Description

The South-west Pacific has long been a major drawcard for naturalists wishing to study wildlife and how it evolves on our planet. Islands are special because they promote unusual forms of life, and large proportions of the species they hold are found nowhere else on Earth. The mammals of the South-west Pacific are no exception. Many are distributed only across single islands or archipelagos, and they provide endless examples of why islands can be such extraordinary places.

Tyrone Lavery and Tim Flannery are Australian field mammalogists who have spent large parts of their careers in the Pacific studying the taxonomy, ecology and conservation