Species/Bramble Cay melomys
Bramble Cay melomys
Melomys rubicola
EXExtinct
was Critically Endangered · 2019- Range
- Bramble Cay, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
- Population
- Zero. Last seen 2009; declared extinct 2019
- Trend
- extinct
- Last assessed
- 2015
The first documented mammal extinction driven primarily by human-caused climate change. A small rodent on a small cay, erased by water.
This is not a prehistoric fossil. People who are alive now watched the island go under.
Threats
- Sea-level rise
- Storm surge destroying vegetation
What you can do
Treat climate policy as wildlife policy
For island endemics, they are the same sentence.