New roo species in New Guinea reported The Independent Online Edition, 7 February 2006. A group of scientists led by Bruce Beehler of Conservation International have discovered many new species of animals, birds and plants whilst exploring the upper slopes of the Foja Mountains in western New Guinea. The region has not been colonised by local tribes or previously explored by visiting scientists. Among the animals they found a new species of tree kangaroo, named the Golden Mantled Tree Kangaroo. They also found many animals that have almost been hunted to extinction in other parts of the island, including wallabies and the rare long beaked echidna.

Amongst birds the expedition found a new species of honey eater, and living specimens of birds of paradise that were previously believed to be extinct and were only known from dead specimens and feathers. Beehler commented: "It was a close to the Garden of Eden as you're going to find on earth. We found dozens, if not hundreds of new species in what is probably the most pristine ecosystem in the whole Asia-Pacific region." The scientists were also surprised by the "lack of wariness" of the birds and animals.

Editorial Comment: The abundance of plants, animals and birds found in this uninhabited region of New Guinea gives us a clue as to why animals such as kangaroos and echidnas are now confined to Australia and New Guinea - they have survived due to lack of predation particularly by humans. They did not evolve there. Fossils of marsuipials are even more widespread, being found as far as China and South America, Canada and France.

Both living and fossil evidence of marsupials and montremes (platypus and echidna) fits the Biblical history of world. After Noah's flood, animals from the ark migrated over the earth. During this time there were extremes of climate and sea levels varied, enabling animals to migrate across land bridges when the levels were low, but then trapping them in those regions when the sea levels rose. After the flood, some animals became predators and humans began hunting and killing animals. As a result some animals quickly became extinct, but those that found themselves in remote places like mountains of New Guinea or inland Australia have survived. The next step is obvious-as people move into this newly discovered "Garden of Eden". Creation Research predicts the current fauna and flora will start to become extinct as they will not, and cannot, evolve to cope with the change. (Ref. migration, extinction, devolution, prediction)