The First Mammal Wiped Out By Climate Change

By: NDTVNewsDesk

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The Bramble Cay melomys is the first mammal wiped out by human-induced climate change. 

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It is a small rodent native to Bramble Cay, a tiny island in Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

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Bramble Cay is a very low-lying island on a coral reef in the Torres Strait.

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Its extinction was caused by rising sea levels and repeated ocean inundations, which destroyed its habitat on the low-lying cay.

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A 2016 study by researchers from Queensland found no trace of the species during a survey.

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The study attributed its disappearance to human-induced climate change.

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Australia officially declared the Bramble Cay melomys extinct in 2019.

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Many animals have gone extinct, but it is the first mammal to go extinct as a direct result of human-induced climate change.

Image: X/@WildPlanetTrust

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