Vertebrate Faunal Succession and Environmental Change in Lowland 9.1 Introduction

The impact of Pleistocene glacial episodes was felt in most, if not all, regions of the world. On the equatorial island of New Guinea glacial conditions undoubtedly had their most dramatic effect at higher altitudes where ice sheets expanded to cover 2000 km2 and treelines fell by almost 2000 m altitude (Hope 1996). At lower elevations, the most obvious effect was the emergence of substantial areas of continental shelf that resulted in the connection of New Guinea with northern Australia and the interruption of oceanic circulation between the Pacific Ocean and the northeast Indian Ocean (Nix & Kalma 1972).