A Naturalist in Cannibal Land #267056

New Guinea is evidently the remnant of a continent which has sunk beneath the sea for the greater part, only the higher elevations granting a refuge to the fauna and flora. When the land rose again to some extent, the newly-formed islands and the coast districts of the main island became populated by an invasion from the west, this new Malayan element in the fauna being, on New Guinea, most prominent in the lowlands and foothills, and extending far south in tropical Australia, whereas the original Papuan element is more evident at the higher altitudes than at the lower.