The bramble cay melomys

The Bramble Cay melomys of Queensland, Australia is the world's first mammal thought to have gone extinct due to the impacts of Description The Bramble Cay melomys was a species of mosaic tailed rat, distinguishable from other species of rat by the mosaic pattern of scales on its tail. The rodents were dependent on the cay's vegetation for food and shelter, heavily relying on the succulent Portulaca oleracea and possibly turtle eggs for food. The Bramble Cay melomys were the only endemic mammal species of the Great Barrier Reef, and were the most isolated and restricted mammal in Australia. Habitat The Bramble Cay melomys were only found on Bramble Cay, located at the northern tip of the Great Barrier Reef and in the north-east Torres Strait, Queensland. Bramble Cay is a small coral cay which is approximately 340 Decline in Population A steady decline in the population of the Bramble Cay melomys was observed over a number of years. When the Bramble Cay melomys were first discovered in 1845 by Europeans, the rodents had an extensive population. Seamen aboard the HMS Bramble entertained themselves by shooting arrows at "large rats" on the cay. Several hundred Bramble Cay melomys were estimated to occupy the cay in 1978. In 1998, the population size was estimated to be 93. By 2002 and 2004, surveys indicated that there were only 10 and 12 individuals on the cay, respectively. The last known siting of the Bramble Cay melomys was reported to be in 2009 by a fisherman who visite...

Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • All • A-Z • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Featured • • About • • • • • • • • Follow • • • • • • • • Subscriptions • • Twitter icon A stylized bird with an open mouth, tweeting. Twitter LinkedIn icon The word "in". LinkedIn Fliboard icon A stylized letter F. Flipboard Facebook Icon The letter F. Facebook Email icon An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email. Email Link icon An image of a chain link. It symobilizes a website link url. Copy Link Read in app The Bramble cay melomys weighed less than an avocado and dined on plants and possibly the occasional turtle egg. nmulconray/Getty Images • On February 18, Australia's environment minister • This melomys is the • The rodents' low-lying island sat just 10 feet above sea level and was inundated by • These The rising ocean has eliminated its first species. On a small island off the northern tip of the Great Barrier Reef, avocado-sized rodents used to skitter across the sand and forest floor, dining on plants and the The Bramble cay melomys, a tiny rat relative once known for its red-brown fuzz and bulbous tail, has officially been declared extinct Scientists believe the Bramble cay melomys, named after an island of the same name (the only place in the world they'd been spotted),...

Claire Reilly was a video host, journalist and producer covering all things space, futurism, science and culture. Whether she's covering breaking news, explaining complex science topics or exploring the weirder sides of tech culture, Claire gets to the heart of why technology matters to everyone. She's been a regular commentator on broadcast news, and in her spare time, she's a cabaret enthusiast, Simpsons aficionado and closet country music lover. She originally hails from Sydney but now calls San Francisco home. Expertise Space, Futurism, Science and Sci-Tech, Robotics, Tech Culture Credentials • Webby Award Winner (Best Video Host, 2021), Webby Nominee (Podcasts, 2021), Gold Telly (Documentary Series, 2021), Silver Telly (Video Writing, 2021), W3 Award (Best Host, 2020), Australian IT Journalism Awards (Best Journalist, Best News Journalist 2017) Australia's Minister for the Environment Melissa Price quietly declared the extinction in a note on threatened species While the mammal didn't get a mention in the Minister's media release, it was included in a listing of species at the bottom, with the Department of the Environment and Energy recommending it for "transfer from the Endangered Category to the Extinct Category." In a statement to CNET, Minister Price said the findings were "incredibly disappointing" but there was "no reasonable doubt" about the extinction of the species. "It has been known among scientific and environmental communities for some time that the melo...

A hedgehog turned into a litter-bearer by plastic rubbish. ‘We risk becoming complacent. We are not recognising the loss of life.’ Photograph: Chris Packham/PA A hedgehog turned into a litter-bearer by plastic rubbish. ‘We risk becoming complacent. We are not recognising the loss of life.’ Photograph: Chris Packham/PA F arewell, Perhaps not as charismatic as some endangered species, nevertheless this rodent – also known as the mosaic-tailed rat – should be getting as much attention as the panda, if not more. It is the beginning of a new wave of loss and we need to start to prepare ourselves for the grief that will inevitably follow. Read more We have been protected until now by an international focus on biodiversity. But while the rate of species extinction is many times higher than would be expected without the impact of people, most of us remain unaware of the organisms we will never have the opportunity to see. And we risk becoming complacent. We are not recognising the loss of life. The latest RSPB Big Garden survey, published this morning, reveals what I already know from the hundreds of talks I have done about hedgehogs; And it is not just mammals that are becoming harder to see. I remember cycling home one warm summer evening and into the headlight I was wearing fluttered a moth. There was a surge of interest followed by the blast of realisation – that was the only moth I had seen on a ride that should have had me complaining as they cluttered my vision. I am not to...

Climate change has claimed its first confirmed mammal extinction. The tiny Bramble Cay melomys (also known as the Bramble Cay mosaic-tailed rat, Melomys rubicola) has been The Bramble Cay melomys lived in just a single habitat, a small reef island at the northern tip of the Great Barrier Reef. The sandy cay—which only measures 340 meters by 150 meters—has been repeatedly buffeted by storm surges from extreme weather events over the past decade, wiping out about 97 percent of its vegetation. High tides now cover the majority of the entire island. With nothing to eat and few places left to escape the ocean, the melomys appears to have now disappeared. According to the report, the last person to see the Bramble Cay melomys alive was a professional fisherman, who spotted one of the rodents in late 2009. This extinction actually doesn’t come as much of a surprise. The Bramble Cay melomys was once described as relatively common. By the end of the Twentieth Century that was no longer the case. A survey in 1998 estimated the population at just 93 individuals, down from “hundreds” two decades earlier. Surveys in 2002 and 2004 turned up just 10 and 12 of the rats, respectively, according to a Those threats, all inspired by global warming, do appear to have caused the extinction of the Bramble Cay melomys. A Despite the bad news, the researchers say there’s still a sliver of hope for the Bramble Cay melomys. There’s a remote possibility that it, or related species, may still exist on...

For the report, which used survey methods consisting of nocturnal traps as well as daytime searches, no sign of a melomys was to be found — no critter, paw print or pellet. “The results reported here, from thorough survey, confirm that the Bramble Cay melomys no longer occurs at the only site from which it has ever been reliably reported,” the scientists wrote in 2016. In the decade between 2004 and 2014, the volume of leafy plants on Bramble Cay shrank by 97 percent, the authors say. Without plants providing food and shelter, the scientists believe, the rodents succumbed to local extinction. The lack of plants, in turn, was probably caused by a rising sea that swept over the island during storms and high tides — ocean inundation, as the scientists call it. Bramble Cay is flat, rising no more than nine feet above sea level at its highest point. Based on observations of erosion, scattered driftwood and dead plants, the authors concluded, “Bramble Cay has been subjected to repeated episodes of seawater inundation.” The scientists also note that data from tides and satellites indicate the average sea level in the area has risen a quarter-inch per year. The Bramble Cay melomys is survived by the grassland melomys and two other closely related melomys species. There is a slim chance, Leung said, the Bramble Cay melomys still exists — perhaps on nearby Papua New Guinea — though there is no confirmation of the animals having lived anywhere except the coral island.