Posted on 05/07/2022 6:06:08 AM PDT by 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."
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
When they bring the kill to a special spot, they need a reward from their employer. :^) Back before warfarin, rats used to be ubiquitous here in The Boonies (this is according to the old folks, who, alas, are no longer around to tell these stories). A local butcher shop had a professional catcher who lived in the store (try that now...). The cat would be waiting inside the back door, with the rat kills all lined up, waiting for liver from the boss. :^)
“live around humans by taking advantage of food and transportation..” -— Soccer mom carpools?
My cat Divot (now deceased) would - when I lived in a ratty old trailer - sit and kill mice all night long sometimes where they were getting in through the wiring for the washing machine. It was kinda nerve-wracking to listen to but it kept them out of the food.
I believe the people of that time thought cats were evil and killed all the strays.
That’s why the rat population soared.
R.A.U.S? I don't think they exist.
I thought for sure the White Rat caused all problems…
Whitey “The White Rat” Herzog caused all our problems? Him and the Redbirds gave my Mets hell in 1985 and 1987, but I wouldn’t blame him for too much.
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