Fauna of New Guinea Guinea. However, the tree-kangaroos, which are mostly endemic to New Guinea, are different in appearance and behaviour. As suggested by their name, they are arboreal. They have long, thick tails which enable them to balance in trees, and large, strong forearms for gripping to trees. Two species of tree kangaroos are also found in Australia, they are believed to have migrated from New Guinea during the Pleistocene. The cuscus, family Phalangeridae, are a family of marsupials closely related to the possums of Australia. The cuscus have evolved in New Guinea, and are found throughout the island. Most species are dark
Fauna of New Guinea species are poorly known, and thus an accurate comparison is difficult. Butterflies are the best known invertebrate group, and are represented in New Guinea by about 735 species, which is about 4.2% of the world total of 17,500 species. New Guinea is a large island located north of Australia, and south-east of Asia. It is part of the Australian Plate, known as Sahul, and once formed part of the supercontinent Gondwana. The origin of most New Guinea fauna is closely linked to Australia. Gondwana began to break up 140 million years ago, and Sahul separated from Antarctica 50 million years