Bramble Cay melomys

Bramble Cay melomys
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Genus: Melomys
Species:
†M. rubicola
Binomial name
†Melomys rubicola
Thomas, 1924[4]

The Bramble Cay melomys, or Bramble Cay mosaic-tailed rat (Melomys rubicola), is a recently extinct species of rodent in the family Muridae and subfamily Murinae. It was an endemic species of the isolated Bramble Cay, a low-lying vegetated coral cay with a habitable area of approximately 5 acres (2.0 ha) located at the northern tip of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Described by researchers as having last been seen in 2009 and declared extinct by the Queensland Government and University of Queensland researchers in 2016, it was formally declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in May 2015 and the Australian government in February 2019.[1][5] Having been the only mammal endemic to the reef, its extinction was described as the first extinction of a mammal species due to anthropogenic climate change.[6][7]

  1. ^ a b Woinarski, J.; Burbidge, A.A. (2016). "Melomys rubicola". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T13132A195439637. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T13132A195439637.en. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. ^ Gynther, Ian; Waller, Natalie; Leung, Luke K.-P. (June 2016), Confirmation of the extinction of the Bramble Cay melomys Melomys rubicola on Bramble Cay, Torres Strait: results and conclusions from a comprehensive survey in August–September 2014 (PDF), Unpublished report to the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, Queensland Government, Brisbane., archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2016, retrieved 14 June 2016
  3. ^ Slezak, Michael (14 June 2016). "Revealed: first mammal species wiped out by human-induced climate change". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  4. ^ Thomas, Oldfield (1924). "Some new Australasian Muridæ". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Series 9. 13 (75): 298–299. doi:10.1080/00222932408633044.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Barrier Reef rodent is first mammal declared extinct due to climate change". University of Queensland. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference ABC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).