[10] In May 1845, while visiting Bramble Cay via HMS Fly, naturalist John MacGillivray and Joseph Jukes collected a holotype, stored today in the British Museum of Natural History.

[15][17] The cay is located in the northeastern portion of the Torres Strait, approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) from the mouth of the Fly River in Papua New Guinea.

[19] The island was also characterised by large populations of seabirds, as well as ecological disturbance caused by annual green turtle breeding.

The Bramble Cay melomys preferred the more densely vegetated areas, and avoided those parts of the island that had high densities of seabirds.

[21] The recovery plan stated that its objective was to "secure and enhance the status of the Bramble Cay melomys through an integrated program of monitoring, on ground management, searches for other populations and raising public awareness".

[20][22] After a short survey in 2014 found no trace of the species, scientists set out to conduct a thorough search and capture any remaining creatures in order to start a captive breeding program.

[1] However, writing in Australian Geographic, Lauren Smith stated, "The authors of the report do note that there is a slight chance that there's an as-yet-unknown population of the species in Papua New Guinea around the Fly River delta area, and that until that area is adequately surveyed, the Bramble Cay melomys should have the tag 'Possibly Extinct' added to the IUCN Red listing.

"[23] The Australian Government's Department of the Environment and Energy formally recognised the extinction of the Bramble Cay melomys on 18 February 2019.

[28] The Queensland government report also stated: "Significantly, this probably represents the first recorded mammalian extinction due to anthropogenic climate change.

He believed that its loss is at least partly due to under-funding for conservation programs and the fact that it was not an animal charismatic enough to garner much public attention.

[31] In August 2021, a group of artists from Erub Island created a series of works called Maizab Kaur Mukeis (the Meriam Mir name for the Bramble Cay melomys), consisting of sculptures of the animal made with ghost nets.

The work was inspired by the news of its extinction, with the artists hoping to create awareness of the damage caused by the abandoned fishing nets to marine ecosystems.

The work was selected as one of four Queensland finalists for the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA).