The first recorded mammalian extinction due to anthropogenic climate change
University of Queensland and Queensland Government researchers have confirmed that the Bramble Cay melomys – the only mammal species endemic to the Great Barrier Reef – is the first mammal to go extinct due to human-induced climate change. In their newly published report, the scientists describe how a comprehensive survey failed to find any trace of the rodent, which is also known as the mosaic-tailed rat. The animals were known only to live on a small island, Bramble Cay, just 340m long and 150m wide (1,120 ft × 490 ft) in the Torres Strait, between Australia and Papua New Guinea.
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