Aussie mammal the first ‘climate change extinction’

  1. Australia officially declared a Great Barrier Reef rodent extinct, making it the first mammal believed to have been killed off by human-induced climate change.
  2. Bramble Cay Melomys is a rodent which belongs to the family of Muridae. It lived solely on a tiny sand island in the Torres Strait, near the coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG).
  3. Reasons for its extinction is human induced climate change which resulted in repeated ocean inundation of the cay — a low-lying island on a coral reef. This resulted in dramatic habitat loss.