Regional patterns of biodiversity in New Guinea animals

Papua New Guinea Highlands: palaeomagnetic constraints on terrane tectonics

Most species of birds of paradise (Paradisaeidae) are endemic in the rainforests of New Guinea. There are also a few species in the northern Moluccas and in northern Australia. Bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchidae) are centred in New Guinea but are more widespread in Australia. The two families have often been regarded as sister groups, but in recent studies Paradisaeidae appear as sister to Corvidae, a worldwide family which is notably depauperate in New Guinea and Australia. This indicates vicariance of a worldwide ancestor, rather than invasion of New Guinea. Other families in the superfamily Corvoidea include Ptilonorhynchidae (basal), Campephagidae (Africa to New Guinea and Fiji), and Cracticidae (Australia to New Guinea). Biodiversity levels in Paradisaeidae and Ptilonorhynchidae were assessed from literature records by counting numbers of species in grid cells 1° latitude by 1° longitude. Birds of paradise are equally diverse in the Mendi square and the Mount Hagen–Wahgi Valley–Jimi Valley square. Bowerbirds are most diverse in the Mount Hagen–Wahgi Valley–Jimi Valley square. This area lies on one of the main tectonic boundaries in New Guinea, the former margin of the Australian craton, and is geologically distinctive in having several diverse accreted terranes juxtaposed there, including an ophiolite complex. It also includes the western slopes of Mount Wilhelm, one of the highest mountains in the New Guinea orogen. Paradisaeidae have secondary centres of diversity in the southern part of the New Guinea orogen (south of the former craton margin), while Ptilonorhynchidae have secondary centres north of the craton margin on the accreted terranes, and also in eastern Australia. Within New Guinea the two distributions correlate closely with the geological interpretation of the orogen as comprising southern (craton) and northern (accreted terrane) components. Within Australia, Paradisaeidae have two species per degree square in northern Cape York Peninsula (on the old Australian craton), and only one elsewhere in eastern Australia, whereas Ptilonorhynchidae have a clear Australian massing further south in Queensland, on the accreted terranes of the Tasman orogen.

The Aure Trough is located over the suture between the once-allochthonous eastern Papua composite terrane (EPCT), which underlies most of the modern Papuan Peninsula, and the Australian craton. The Aure Trough is the southeastward continuation of the hydrocarbon-productive Papuan basin. Stratigraphic and tectonic relationships indicate docking of the EPCT in the Oligocene. Discontinuous outcroppings of basin strata occur along the southwest margin of the Papuan Peninsula. Oligocene-early Miocene units there mostly consist of resedimented carbonate debris with some volcaniclastics (Dokuna Tuff and Bootless Inlet, Boera, and Fairfax Formations). Strata indicate general highstand conditions in the basin immediately following collision. Thick, extensive, mostly deep-marine clastics were deposited in the basin in the middle Miocene-Pliocene. Increased clastics in the middle Miocene (lower Chiria Formation) record uplift of the docked EPCT possibly due to post-collisional isostatic rebound. Sediment was eroded from a mixed metamorphic-sedimentary provenance during the early middle Miocene. Younger clastics in middle Miocene to Pliocene strata (upper Chiria, Talama, Lavao, Orubadi, and Era Formations) were derived mostly from a volcanic arc, and record beginning of southward subduction beneath the northern edge of the New Guinea orogen. In addition, stratigraphic evidence of local faulting and repeated alternations between clastic and carbonate facies from the middle Miocene upward reflect local deformation and relative sea level changes with continued tectonic shortening. Local deformation likely was part of overthrusting of the Papuan Peninsula onto the craton margin. Tectonism ultimately resulted in formation of the Aure fold and thrust belt in the Pliocene. Pliocene deformation probably was a far-field response to collision of the Bismarck-New Britain volcanic arc with the northern edge of New Guinea.

The regional structure of the south‐west Pacific is attributed to the spreading and segmentation by sub‐crustal convection currents of a Paleozoic—Mesozoic geosynclinal belt marginal to the Australian craton, with migration of the separated sialic fragments northward and eastward into the Pacific Basin. The source of the convection currents presumably lay beneath the mid‐ocean rises (Indian‐Antarctic and Pacific‐Antarctic Ridges) south of Australia and New Zealand. During Cenozoic times Australia has moved northward relative to the New Zealand Plateau, the migration of the latter having a greater eastward component that allowed opening of the Tasman Basin. As a result of these differential movements the geosynclinal belt extending from New Zealand across the north‐east margin of the Australian craton has been subjected not only to crustal spreading and stretching in a north‐easterly direction with anticlockwise rotation, but also to north‐south extension and tensional rifting. The New Guinea section of the geosyncline has been separated by rifting with attenuation, and thrust northward in advance of the Australian craton, vacating the region now occupied by the Coral Sea Basin. The abruptly‐terminated northern sections of the Lord Howe Rise and Norfolk Ridge have escaped rotation but have been extended by a system of oblique fractures and dilatational rifts. Independent, convergent movement of the Campbell Plateau ‐ Chatham Rise section of the geosynclinal belt in a north‐north‐easterly to northerly direction has resulted in a clockwise rotation, through approximately 90°, of the intervening New Zealand segment, accompanied by large‐scale flexuring and north‐east shear‐fracturing. The rotation has swung New Zealand into alignment with volcanic island arcs (the Kermadec‐Tonga Ridge and the Macquarie Ridge) forming simultaneously to the north and south. The latter represent zones of convergence and sinking of sub‐crustal convection currents, and it follows that the mega‐structure of New Zealand has been determined by the intersection of the disrupted geosynclinal belt by such a zone.

Recent tectonic studies provide a new view of the evolution of the New Guinea Orogen. The Mesozoic–Cenozoic orogen has undergone crustal shortening and thickening with accompanying uplift and almost continuous magmatism since the Early Cretaceous. Ten terranes have been identified in the orogen, with major faults forming the boundaries between these terranes. Terranes display various stages of active collision–accretion. The Australian craton’s deformed northern margin is a complex zone of para-autochthonous and accreted allochthonous terranes. Periods of convergence and compression have occurred within the orogen during sustained westward sinistral movement with intra-plate deformation, microplate formation and large-scale sinistral translations. Major sinistral horizontal dispersals and counterclockwise rotations of terrane fragments have occurred, with blocks of the Owen Stanley terrane and Waria terrane dispersed westward for up to 800 km. Westward dispersal may also account for the 700 km length of the middle–late Miocene Maramuni magmatic arc. The largest allochthonous terrane is the mostly submerged Nakanai terrane, consisting of Lower Cretaceous–Oligocene oceanic crust and island arc rocks along the northern New Guinea mainland and throughout the New Guinea islands and Solomon Islands. Docking of the allochthonous Ontong Java Plateau terrane with the New Guinea Orogen was initiated at 25–20 Ma (Oligocene–Miocene boundary) and is associated with widespread unconformity. Renewed convergence since 4–2 Ma is associated with intra-plate deformation of the Nakanai terrane, including break-up of the terrane into a series of microplates, asymmetric sea-floor spreading in the Manus Basin (3.5 Ma) and Woodlark Basin (6.2 Ma), rotational collision of the South Bismarck microplate with the Owen Stanley terrane (3.7–3.0 Ma), late Miocene (7.0 Ma) deformation of the Aure–Moresby terrane and buckling and formation of a double chain of islands in the Solomon Islands and a series of ridges (Tabar–Lihir–Tanga–Feni arc; Pliocene–Holocene) in the New Ireland region.

SUMMARYBISHOP, K.D., 1983. Some Notes on Non-Passerine Birds of West New Britain. Emu 83: 235–241.Information is presented on 22 new or little known species from the island of New Britain and the Bismarck Archipelago. Anas clypeata is recorded for the first time in the New Guinea region and only for the third time in Australasia. Evidence of breeding is recorded for Podiceps ruficollis, Ixobrychus sinensis, Himantopus himantopus, Sterna albifrons and Alcedo atthis for the first time in the Bismarck Archipelago and the New Guinea region.

Ninety-six new focal mechanisms were determined for earthquakes on the belt of seismic activity separating the Pacific and Australian plates. The direction of convergence of these plates varies from NE-SW to E-W. The Australian plate underthrusts the Pacific plate to the ENE under the Solomon and New Hebrides islands and overthrusts the Pacific to the east along the Tonga-Kermadec arc and the North Island of New Zealand. The data for the Macquarie ridge concur with the idea that the pole of rotation for the Pacific and Australian plates is nearby and to the east of this feature. The data also suggest a NNE-SSW convergence of the Pacific and Australian plates in northwestern New Guinea. The relative motions of the plates near the Bismarck Archipelago are complex because of the presence of at least three additional small plates. The south Bismarck plate, the best defined, underlies the southern part of the Bismarck Sea. It is bounded on the north by an E-W belt of seismicity at about 3°S defining a left-lateral strike-slip fault. The New Britain arc forms the southern boundary, where the Solomon Sea floor underthrusts the south Bismarck plate to the NNW. There is some evidence for SW convergence of the south Bismarck and Australian plates in northeastern New Guinea. Small plates, less well-defined seismically, are also proposed under the northern part of the Bismarck Sea and under the Solomon Sea. The plate underlying the Solomon Sea floor is bounded by the Solomon and New Britain arcs and by eastern New Guinea. The southern boundary is not sharply defined by seismic data. The Solomon Sea plate is moving approximately NW with respect to the Australian plate and underthrusting the Pacific plate to the NE along the Solomon arc. The consistent pattern of relative motions of these three small plates allows quantitative estimates of relative rates of motion between them. These data demonstrate that plate tectonics is applicable even for regions with dimensions of only a few hundred kilometers. Geologic data from New Guinea are used to speculate about earlier plate motions in that area.

Pacific ViewpointVolume 13, Issue 1 p. 18-29 ArticleFree Access Agricultural Evolution In The New Guinea Highlands E. Waddell, E. WaddellSearch for more papers by this author E. Waddell, E. WaddellSearch for more papers by this author First published: 01 May 1972 https://doi.org/10.1111/apv.131002Citations: 7AboutSectionsPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat References 1Barrau, J., 1958, Subsistence Agriculture in Melanesia, Bulletin No. 219, Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu. 2Bowers, N., 1968, “ The Ascending Grasslands: An Anthropological Study of Ecological Succession in a High Mountain Valley of New Guinea,” unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University. 3Brookfield, H. C., 1962, “Local Study and Comparative Method: An Example from Central New Guinea”, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 52, 242- 54. 4Brookfield, H. C. and Brown, P., 1963, Struggle for Land: Agriculture and Group Territories among the Chimbu of the New Guinea Highlands, Oxford University Press, Melbourne. 5Brookfield, H. C. and White, J. P., 1968, “Revolution or Evolution in the Prehistory of the New Guinea Highlands”, Ethnology, 7, 43- 52. 6Clarke, W. C., 1966, “From Extensive to Intensive Shifting Cultivation in New Guinea”, Ethnology, 5, 347- 59. 7Clarke, W. C., 1970, “Taro in Montane New Guinea”, paper delivered at the ANZAAS Congress, Port Moresby. Mimeographed. 8Flenley, J. R., 1967, “The Present and Former Vegetation of the Wabag Region of New Guinea”, unpublished Ph.D. thesis, the Australian National University. 9Geertz, C., 1963, Agricultural Involution: The Processes of Ecological Change in Indonesia, University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles. 10Heider, K., 1970, The Dugum Dani: A Papuan Culture in the Highlands of West New Guinea, Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology, No. 49 Aldine, Chicago. 11Howlett, D. R., 1962, “A Decade of Change in the Goroka Valley, New Guinea: Land Use and Development in the 1950’s”, unpublished Ph.D. thesis, the Australian National University. 12Meggitt, M. J., 1965, The Lineage System of the Mae-Enga of New Guinea Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh. 13Pospisil, L., 1963, The Kapauku Papuans of West New Guinea, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York. 14Rappaport, R. A., 1967, Pigs for the Ancestors: Ritual in the Ecology of a New Guinea People, Yale University Press, New Haven. 15Salisbury, R. F., 1962, From Stone to Steel: Economic Consequences of a Technological Change in New Guinea, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne 16Salisbury, R. F., 1964, “Changes in Land Use and Tenure among the Siane of the New Guinea Highlands”, Pacific Viewpoint, 5, 1- 10. 17Schindler, A. 1952, “Land Use by Natives of Aiyura Village, Central Highlands, New Guinea”, South Pacific, 6, 302- 307. 18Straatmans, W., 1967, “Ethnobotany of New Guinea in its Ecological Perspective”, Journal d’agriculture tropicale et de botanique appliquée 14, 1- 20. 19Serpenti, L. M., 1965, Cultivators in the swamps, Van Gorcum Assen 20Waddell, E. W., 1972, The Mound Builders: Agricultural Practices, Environment, and Society in the Central Highlands of New Guinea, American Ethnological Society Monograph 53, University of Washington Press, Seattle. 21Watson, J. B., 1965, “From Hunting to Horticulture in the New Guinea Highlands”, Ethnology, 4, 285- 309. Citing Literature Volume13, Issue1May 1972Pages 18-29 ReferencesRelatedInformation

Gravity and well data have been used to model the foreland basin flanking the Papua New Guinea orogenic belt. Backstripping of sediments from well data reveals a former passive margin that has probably experienced at least two major orogenic loading events. The first of these took place at or near the Miocene—Oligocene boundary and was associated with widespread carbonate deposition across the existing shelf and evolving basin. The second event is most likely related to the start of the main phase of uplift in the fold‐and‐thrust belt near the beginning of the Pliocene. Sedimentation in the Papuan Basin altered from a system dominated by carbonate accumulation to one of rapid deposition of terrigenous clastic sediments shed from the emerging orogen. For the purposes of gravity and flexure modeling, the base of the foreland sequence was defined as a horizontal surface that existed at the time of the initial collision. A total of seven gravity, topography, and stratigraphie profiles were constructed and used to model the flexure of the lithosphere supporting the onshore Papuan Basin and New Guinea orogen. The best fit model was a semiinfinite elastic plate in which the plate break was located approximately midway across the orogenic belt. The elastic plate thickness Te was found to be high in the western regions of Papua New Guinea (Te of 70–80 km) with little variation across the first four profiles, but it weakened considerably to the east where Te varied rapidly from 60 km to as little as 8 km. This sudden weakening of the lithosphere occurred as a narrow zone at the foot of the mountain belt. The weakening could be related to a low‐strength zone within the former margin. Alternatively, it reflects the western extent of late Tertiary volcanism that was produced by the subduction of the Solomon Sea Plate beneath Australia.

The magnesium handling of freshwater teleost fish is discussed, with an emphasis on the role of branchial, intestinal and renal transport. In response to the eminent threat of constant diffusive losses of minerals such as magnesium, freshwater fish have developed efficient mechanisms for magnesium homeostasis. Magnesium losses are overcome by the uptake of magnesium from the food, making the intestine an important route for magnesium uptake. Some evidence suggests that intestinal magnesium uptake in fish is a regulated, cellular process. The ambient water is an additional magnesium source for fish, implicating the gills as a secondary route for magnesium uptake. Certainly, in some species, direct uptake from the water, probably via branchial routes, ameliorates the effects of a low-magnesium diet. The hard tissues, representing over 50 % of the total body magnesium pool, form a reservoir from which magnesium can be recruited to perform its functions in the cellular metabolism of soft tissues such as muscle. In fish, as in terrestrial vertebrates, the balance of a variety of elements becomes disturbed when the magnesium homeostasis of the soft tissues is disrupted. However, fish appear to be less sensitive than terrestrial vertebrates to these perturbations. Magnesium is reabsorbed in the kidneys to minimise losses. For renal cells, part of a cellular pathway has been elucidated that would allow absorptive magnesium transport (a magnesium conductive pathway in renal brush-border membranes). In some euryhaline teleosts, the kidneys appear to switch instantaneously to rapid magnesium secretion upon magnesium loading, a response common to marine fish that are threatened by diffusive magnesium entry. This enigmatic mechanism underlies the capacity of some euryhaline species to acclimate rapidly to sea water. Despite the progress made over the last decade, much of the cellular and molecular basis of magnesium transport in the gills, intestine and kidneys remains obscure. The application of fluorescent, radioactive and molecular probes, some of which have only recently become available, may yield rapid progress in the field of magnesium research.

Detrital zircon from two basement blocks (Kubor and Bena Bena) in the central Highlands of Papua New Guinea has an age signature that strongly suggests a northern Australian provenance. Samples of the Omung Metamorphics, southeastern Kubor Block, together yield principal zircon populations with ages of ca 1.8 Ga (∼10% of the total), ca 1.55 Ga (∼10%), 470–440 Ma (∼15%), ca 340 Ma (∼10%) and 290–260 Ma (∼40%).Two tonalite stocks of the Kubor Intrusive Complex, which intrude the Omung Metamorphics, yield indistinguishable ages of 244.8 ± 4.9 Ma and 239.1 ± 4.2 Ma.Therefore, the deposition and subsequent deformation of the Omung Metamorphics is Late Permian to Early Triassic. A sample of Goroka Formation (Bena Bena Block) contains detrital zircon of similar ages to the Omung Metamorphics, ca 1.8 Ga (5%), ca 1.55 Ga (∼45%), ca 430 Ma (∼5%) and ca 310 Ma (∼40%), suggesting that the Goroka Formation has a similar provenance and might be correlative. In contrast, a metapsammite from the Bena Bena Formation yielded only ages of 290–280 Ma (85%) and ca 240 Ma (15%). A tuff interbedded in the Bena Bena Formation yielded only igneous zircon with a Late Triassic age of 221 ± 3 Ma. Contrary to previous interpretations, the Bena Bena Formation is probably younger than the Goroka Formation. Ages of New Guinea detrital zircon closely match those of igneous and detrital zircon from the Coen Inlier, northeastern Queensland, but contrast with the ages of zircon from terranes further south, east and west. The Kubor and Bena Bena Blocks are not suspect terranes, but rather form part of the Australian craton. The craton margin, modified by rifting during the Mesozoic, was re‐inverted during Cenozoic compression. The Australian craton, in the eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea, extends at least as far north as the Markham Valley, the northern edge of the Bena Bena terrane.

Cox, G.W. (1999) Alien species in North America and Hawaii: impacts on natural ecosystems. Island Press, Washington. xii + 387 pp, tables, glossary, index. Hardback: Price US$60.00. ISBN 1 559 63679 3. Paperback: Price US$30.00. ISBN 1 559 63680 7. In the clear, concise style characterizing Cox’s previous texts from his Dynamic ecology (1973) to Conservation biology: concepts and applications (1997), his latest work, Alien species in North America and Hawaii: impacts on natural ecosystems, constitutes a comprehensive synthesis of the history, distribution, impacts, management initiatives and policy dilemmas of some the most noxious introduced species in the 10 most seriously affected regions of the United States. Canada is treated to a much lesser degree and Mexico is mentioned in passing on only six occasions. The stated objective of the book is ‘to evaluate exotic invasions of North America in the light of the emerging science of invasion ecology’, and to ‘examine the seriousness of the threat of these invaders to North America, and what can be done to reduce this threat.’ As the subtitle suggests, the book is not a dispassionate evaluation of exotics. Rather, it attempts to fill the ‘education gap’ between concerned environmentalists and ‘the public at large [that] remains largely unaware of the seriousness of the threat’ to the native flora and fauna of North America, ‘the largest battleground in the global war against invasive exotics.’ The approach is nonmathematical, better described as a descriptive catalogue than an analytical treatize. For the layperson, the book provides numerous examples of aggressive exotics from representative biomes of North America, the full range of invaders (plants, plant diseases, marine invertebrates, terrestrial invertebrates, insects, freshwater fish and terrestrial vertebrates) and across a broad range of habitat types (bays, estuaries, lakes, rivers and streams, forests, tropical and semitropical lowlands, plains and intermontane grasslands, floodplains, mediterranean ecosystems, and island ecosystems). In addition to the litany of geographically referenced species accounts, also presented are their myriad impacts in clear nontechnical language, as well as a cursory review of existing invasion theory. A short, but well-conceived, glossary clarifies technical terms and theoretical concepts. To its merit, the book considers impacts beyond simply those on charismatic or priority conservation species, also presenting community and ecosystem level impacts. The most significant contribution for the technical audience is the extensive cataloguing of exotics and their impacts based on a thorough and well-referenced review of both historical and current publications; many references come from the 1999 primary literature. Also useful is a three-page listing of internet sites dedicated to exotic species. The book is divided into five parts with each of the 21 chapters being introduced with effective and engaging case studies that present key conceptual issues to follow. Part I provides the historical and conceptual background upon which the regional treatments of Part II are based. Here the uninitiated receive a ‘crash course’ in invasion ecology ranging from the source, identity and attributes of some classic invaders such as the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha), the history of exotic species introductions and their studies with the de rigeur references to Elton’s pioneering work The Ecology of Invasions by Animals & Plants (1958) and Carson’s Silent Spring (1962), and the magnitude of ecological and economic impacts of ‘biotic pollution.’ The comprehensive 10 regional treatment chapters of Part II constitute the bulk of the book. Spanning the whole of the United States and drawing on examples from the primary literature, Cox demonstrates convincingly that not all ecosystems are equally invasible and no single theory can account for invasions and their impacts. For example, reviewing case studies from his home state, California, it is argued that species rich areas commonly considered more ‘stable’ and less invasible are in some instances highly vulnerable to aggressive exotics from a range of taxa. While the impacts of exotics are most evident in Hawaii where they have occasioned both documented extinctions and quantifiable ecosystem function disruption, Cox emphasizes that ‘unpredictability is a key feature in invasions’ and that they often lead to unforeseen outcomes such as ‘food web chaos’. Part III introduces some of the dilemmas created by exotic species, associated impacts and their management. Deliberately introduced game species, such as the brown trout, ring-necked pheasant and sika deer are often seen as desirable. Likewise, control of native North American species with anthropogenically extended ranges is fraught with controversy. Finally, a chapter dedicated to problems associated with domesticated species gone feral, ‘our best friends and closest associates’, provides a vivid example of the many conflicting issues of ecology and ethics. In particular for the lay audience, this section constitutes an effective means of tempering the knee-jerk response of ‘why isn’t anyone doing anything?’ that many of the preceding examples may have provoked. Additionally it demands that the reader consider his own role in species introductions and their control. Whereas the regional treatment briefly introduces some theoretical aspects of invasion ecology, Part IV is specifically dedicated to this purpose. The format is standard (invader attributes and differential ecosystem vulnerability) and the theories presented are well known to professional ecologists (variable invasibility of successional stages, the relevance of assembly rules, niche breadth and openness, and disturbance). However, this short section provides some of the most interesting reading and insightful commentary. The varied nature of impacts is also considered including abiotic ecosystem impacts such as those on hydrology and fertility to biotic impacts, including those on trophic structure or occasioned by genetic swamping via hybridization between natives and exotics. Surely a matter of opinion, the book may have benefited from this section occurring before the regional treatment thereby providing a theoretical backdrop upon which the many specific case studies of Part II might be considered. Cox boldly closes in Part V with a presentation of the economic implications of exotic species and management options that exist to control them. The book concludes with an explicit review of the shortcomings of existing management institutions and their lack of integration and provides concrete recommendations for the strengthening of global and national organizations charged with exotic species management. He notes these will be increasingly called upon as invasions continue with cultural and economic globalization and as their impacts become even less predictable in the face of global environmental change. Although the examples provided are confined to North America, the wide range of climates and habitat types considered makes the book relevant to those interested in biological invasions from other areas. Being a discipline involving rates of change over time, correlations involving multiple factors and subjects considered within a geographical context, the use of illustrations, figures and diagrams would have enhanced the well-conceived text. While useful data is frequently presented in tabular form, other graphic representations are lacking. Given the importance of scale and spatial context, maps in particular would have been useful. Although the well-written text might have benefited from the inclusion of such graphical conceptual aids, on the whole the book represents a valuable contribution to the invasion literature for lay and technical audience alike. No original data, results or theories to explain the many invasions are presented, but the book clearly achieves the professed goal of reviewing the state of alien invasions in North America in attempting to fill the existing education gap between the informed environmentalist and uninformed public at large.

The genus Mirabilopsaltria n. gen. is erected for six closely related species from New Guinea and the Bismarck archipelago. Three species (B. humilis Blote 1960, B. viridicata Distant 1897, and B. toxopeusi Blote 1960) are redescribed and transferred from Baeturia Stal 1866 to Mirabilopsaltria n. gen., and three species (M. globulata, M. inconspicua, and M inflata) are described as new. The genus belongs to a complex of genera grouped around Baeturia and is most closely related to the genera Thaumastopsaltria Kirkaldy 1900, Cystosoma Westwood 1842, and Cystopsaltria Goding & Froggatt 1904 of this complex. A key to the males and a map of the distribution are presented.

AimThe paper reviews the biogeography and ecology of New Guinea using the birds of paradise (Paradisaeidae) as an illustrative example.LocationNew Guinea, the Moluccas, North‐eastern Australia.MethodsPanbiogeographic analysis (Crawet al., 1999).ResultsThe family Paradisaeidae is interpreted as the main New Guinea vicariant inSibley & Ahlquist’s (1990)Corvinae. It has evolved mainly on the New Guinea orogen, extending, like the orogen, to the northern Moluccas and the Milne Bay islands, but not present north of it on Karkar Island or New Britain. Within the orogen, Vogelkop – Huon Peninsula disjunctions (1500 km) occur between putative sister species inParadisaea,AstrapiaandParotia. Whatever taxonomic rank these affinities warrant, the biogeographic connection is inexplicable by ‘jump’ dispersal from the mainland, but is compatible with an accreted terrane model of New Guinea tectonics including massive lateral strike‐slip movement. This would also account for many aspects of distribution of Paradisaeidae within the New Guinea highlands, and also disjunctions between Sulawesi and the Bismarck Archipelago in the related genusArtamus.Main conclusionsBirds of paradise are sedentary forest dwellers with small home ranges and are tolerant of disturbance. It is suggested that populations have been caught in the dramatic geological uplift and downwarping of different parts of New Guinea. This has led to fragmentation and juxtaposition of ranges, and determined the altitudinal range of the taxa (including altitudinal ‘anomalies’). Areas of endemism in birds of paradise include Quaternary volcanoes. In New Guinea large areas have eventually been covered by lava flows of different volcanic phases, but the living communities, including local endemics, may remain more or lessin situby constantly colonizing younger flows from adjacent older flows. In this way older life can ‘float’ on younger stratigraphy. At least five, possibly six, of the fifteen genera in subfam. Paradisaeinae are known to occur in mangrove. The ancestors of Paradisaeidae and other New Guinea bird families such as Ptilonorhynchidae probably included birds of the mangrove, beach forest and coastal hinterland which have been stranded in central Australia following marine transgressions (Ptilonorhynchidae) and uplifted in New Guinea during the Tertiary orogeny (Ptilonorhynchidae and Paradisaeidae).

Historical biogeography of the cicadas of Wallacea, New Guinea and the West Pacific: a geotectonic explanation