How the black rat colonized Europe in the Roman and Medieval periods

ScienceDaily ^ | May 3, 2022 | University of York

[SunkenCiv]

New ancient DNA analysis has shed light on how the black rat, blamed for spreading Black Death, dispersed across Europe -- revealing that the rodent colonized the continent on two occasions in the Roman and Medieval periods. By analyzing DNA from ancient black rat remains found at archaeological sites spanning the 1st to the 17th centuries in Europe and North Africa, researchers have pieced together a new understanding of how rat populations dispersed following the ebbs and flows of human trade, urbanism, and empires...

The study -- led by the University of York along with the University of Oxford and the Max Planck Institute -- is the first ancient genetic study of the species (Rattus rattus), often known as the ship rat.

By analysing DNA from ancient black rat remains found at archaeological sites spanning the 1st to the 17th centuries in Europe and North Africa, the researchers have pieced together a new understanding of how rat populations dispersed following the ebbs and flows of human trade,urbanism, and empires...

The black rat is one of three rodent species, along with the house mouse (Mus musculus) and brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), to have become globally distributed as a result of its ability to live around humans by taking advantage of food and transportation...

"But one remarkable result of our study is quite how much of a single event this seems to have been: all of our Roman rat bones from England to Serbia form a single group in genetic terms."

[SunkenCiv]

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• The Four Black Deaths [04/12/2021]
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• DANCING WITH DEATH Plague is spreading because relatives are digging up their Black Death dead [10/31/2017]
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• Black Death may have been lurking for centuries: DNA of plague victims in France backs up theory... [01/23/2016]
• Did famine worsen the Black Death? [01/07/2016]
• In Ancient DNA, Evidence of Plague Much Earlier Than Previously Known [11/06/2015]
• The Justinian Plague of 562 A.D. an Electromagnetic Drama? [11/02/2015]
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[SunkenCiv]

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• 1,500-year-old shoe resembling Roman sandal found in Norwegian alpine pass [05/01/2022]
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[HighSierra5]

Where’s the picture of Joyless Reid?

[Scarlett156]

My eye was instantly caught by the piece on cephalopod genomes.

[unread]

"How the black rat colonized Europe in the Roman and Medieval periods.

Wow.. I didn't even know there were democrats back in those days....

[17th Miss Regt]

And shouldn’t the first letter of all references to the “black rat” be capitalized per the AP stylebook?

[Adder]

Now they are mostly islamic rats...

[SunkenCiv]

Fine old blues by Little Son Joe, Memphis Minnie's partner. Wish I had more of these! Enjoy!

BLACK RAT SWING by Little Son Joe | May 29, 2011 | cdbpdx

[RedMonqey]

Read the article but said nothing about where the black rat originated. Or did I miss something?

[SunkenCiv]

I don't blame ya, same here. And it does have much better images than my greatest topic ever:

• Scientists: Bison in Illinois earlier (aren't you relieved?) [09/03/2005]

[null and void]

Wow.. I didn't even know there were democrats back in those days....

These were welfare democrats. that was so out of line, I should be ashamed of myself, and I am...

[Bon of Babble]

We spent thousands of dollars on an exterminator - mostly for mice, but for rats as well. Had the house sealed, traps put out, the exterminator came every few months.

Nothing. Rats and mice were still around - mostly started when the house next door started renovations.

A mouse ran across my kitchen floor when my niece was visiting and you could have heard the screaming across the state - this was about four years ago and to this day she refuses to stay in our home.

ONLY thing that worked for us:

Haven't seen a mouse, rat or gopher since we got her. She even keeps the tree rats out of my fruit trees.

Would have saved me thousands on the exterminator.

[Scarlett156]

Dude!!!

[Scarlett156]

What a cute little killing machine.

[SunkenCiv]

[rummaging around sounds] Sez here, "The black rat originated in India and Southeast Asia". They didn't swim of course, see the "ancientnavigation" and "romanempire" keywords for related topics.

[SunkenCiv]

The tried and true methods are tried and true for a reason. :^)

[Dr. Sivana]

Hard to tell when you have a good mouser when they are kittens. I am glad you got a great cat. One family we knew in Georgia got a mom cat with kittens to take care of a snake problem. Worked perfectly.

[Bon of Babble]

Oh, God she is!

She has a habit of dragging her kills into the house through the dog door, which she’s learned to use - and bringing us the eviscerated mouse, rat, lizard or gopher - right into the bedroom for us to find in the morning.

Still, I got a bumper crop of pomegranates for the first time in years - the tree rats used to get them, they crawl along the wires. Not any longer.

When she isn’t killing something, she likes to lay in our laps and purr.

[Larry Lucido]

Likely rats of unusual size.

[Disambiguator]

What with the coming food shortages, squirrels might be about to become an important source of protein. Good thing there are so many of them!