Editing Papua New Guinea (section)

=== Biodiversity ===
{{See also|Conservation in Papua New Guinea|List of protected areas of Papua New Guinea|Fauna of New Guinea}}
[[File:Papua New Guinea (5986599443).jpg|thumb|Papua New Guinea's highlands]]

Many species of birds and mammals found on New Guinea have close genetic links with corresponding species found in Australia. One notable feature in common for the two landmasses is the existence of several species of [[marsupial]] [[mammal]]s, including some [[kangaroo]]s and [[Phalangeriformes|possums]], which are not found elsewhere. Papua New Guinea is a [[Megadiverse countries|megadiverse country]].

Many of the other islands within PNG territory, including New Britain, New Ireland, Bougainville, the [[Admiralty Islands]], the [[Trobriand Islands]], and the [[Louisiade Archipelago]], were never linked to New Guinea by land bridges. As a consequence, they have their own flora and fauna; in particular, they lack many of the land mammals and flightless birds that are common to New Guinea and Australia.

The country is believed to be the home of many undocumented species of plants and animals.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gelineau |first=Kristen |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/spiders-and-frogs-identified-among-50-new-species-1654296.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/spiders-and-frogs-identified-among-50-new-species-1654296.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Spiders and frogs identified among 50 new species |work=[[The Independent]] |date=26 March 2009 |access-date=26 March 2009}}</ref>

[[File:Baby tree kangaroo on the chiefs wifes shoulder -Papua New Guinea-17Oct2008.jpg|thumb|A [[tree-kangaroo]] in Papua New Guinea]]
Australia and New Guinea are portions of the ancient supercontinent of [[Gondwana]], which started to break into smaller continents in the [[Cretaceous]] period, 65–130 million years ago. Australia finally broke free from [[Antarctica]] about 45 million years ago. All the Australasian lands are home to the [[Antarctic flora]], descended from the flora of southern Gondwana, including the [[Pinophyta|coniferous]] [[podocarpaceae|podocarps]] and ''[[Araucaria]]'' pines, and the broad-leafed southern beech (''[[Nothofagus]]''). These plant families are still present in Papua New Guinea. New Guinea is part of the humid tropics, and many [[Indomalayan realm|Indomalayan]] rainforest plants spread across the narrow straits from Asia, mixing with the old Australian and Antarctic floras. New Guinea has been identified as the world's most floristically diverse island in the world, with 13,634 known species of vascular plants.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Cámara-Leret |author2=Frodin |author3=Adema |title=New Guinea has the world's richest island flora. |journal=Nature |year=2020 |volume=584 |issue=7822 |pages=579–583 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2549-5 |pmid=32760001 |bibcode=2020Natur.584..579C |s2cid=220980697 |url=https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2549-5 |access-date=8 September 2021 |archive-date=7 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107022110/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2549-5 |url-status=live |issn = 0028-0836 }}</ref>

Papua New Guinea includes several terrestrial [[ecoregion]]s:

* [[Admiralty Islands]] lowland rain forests – forested islands to the north of the mainland, home to a distinct flora.
* [[New Guinea Highlands|Central Range montane rain forests]] [[File:PNG-climate.png|thumb|Green [[tropical rainforest]] of Papua New Guinea bears a sharp contrast to nearby [[arid]] Australia.]]
* [[Huon Peninsula]] montane rain forests
* [[Louisiade Archipelago]] rain forests
* New Britain-New Ireland lowland rain forests
* New Britain-New Ireland montane rain forests
* [[New Guinea mangroves]]
* [[Northern New Guinea lowland rain and freshwater swamp forests]]
* Northern New Guinea montane rain forests
* [[Solomon Islands rain forests]] (includes Bougainville Island and Buka)
* Southeastern Papuan rain forests
* Southern New Guinea freshwater swamp forests
* Southern New Guinea lowland rain forests
* [[Trobriand Islands rain forests]]
* [[Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands]]
* Central Range sub-alpine grasslands

Three new species of mammals were discovered in the forests of Papua New Guinea by an Australian-led expedition in the early 2010s. A small wallaby, a large-eared mouse and a shrew-like marsupial were discovered. The expedition was also successful in capturing photographs and video footage of some other rare animals such as the [[Tenkile]] tree kangaroo and the Weimang tree kangaroo.<ref>{{cite web|author=Australian Geographic|url=http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2014/07/new-species-found-in-remote-png|title=New and rare species found in remote PNG|date=July 2014|author-link=Australian Geographic|access-date=11 November 2014|archive-date=10 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110103637/http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2014/07/new-species-found-in-remote-png|url-status=live}}</ref> Nearly one-quarter of Papua New Guinea's rainforests were damaged or destroyed between 1972 and 2002.<ref>"[http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/02/2262808.htm Satellite images uncover rapid PNG deforestation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629000402/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/02/2262808.htm |date=29 June 2011 }}." ABC News. 2 June 2008.</ref> Mangrove swamps stretch along the coast, and in the inland it is inhabited by nipa palm (Nypa fruticans), and deeper in the inland the sago palm tree inhabits areas in the valleys of larger rivers. Trees such as oaks, red cedars, pines, and beeches are becoming predominant in the uplands above 3,300 feet. Papua New Guinea is rich in various species of reptiles, indigenous freshwater fish and birds, but it is almost devoid of large mammals.<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica Climate">{{cite web|title=Papua New Guinea – Climate|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Papua-New-Guinea|access-date=12 August 2020|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|archive-date=15 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815081541/https://www.britannica.com/place/Papua-New-Guinea|url-status=live}}</ref>