Posted on Thu, Aug. 14, 2003
Caught in the rat race? No wonder
By Faye Flam
Inquirer Staff Writer
Dogs may be man's best friend but rats are closer relatives, according to a new study that compares stretches of DNA for 13 different animals - including human beings.
We primates share common stretches of DNA with rats and mice that weren't found in carnivores such as dogs and cats or hoofed animals such as pigs and cows. The researchers, who published their paper in today's issue of the journal Nature, also studied DNA from two fellow primates - baboons and monkeys - as well as chickens, zebrafish and two species of pufferfish.