How brown rats crawled off ships and conquered North American cities
Brown rats are the undisputed winners of the real rat race.
New research suggests that they crawled off ships arriving in North America earlier than previously thought and out-competed rodent rivals – going on to infuriate and disgust generations of city-dwellers and becoming so ubiquitous that they’re known as common rats, street rats or sewer rats.
It didn’t take long for them to push aside the black rats that had likely arrived with Columbus and thrived in colonial cities.
After first appearing on the continent before 1740, brown rats took over the East Coast from black rats “in only a matter of decades,” said Michael Buckley, one of the authors of a study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.
Brown rats are larger and more aggressive than black rats — and they want to be close to human populations, said Matthew Frye, a researcher and community educator with the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program at Cornell University.
Related articles
International gold price expected to continue rising: analysts
(ECNS) –The international gold price maintained its upward trajectory, recording new highs on Friday2024-05-01(Chengdu Universiade) China's pandas endure as symbol of cross
(Xinhua) 09:28, July 30, 2023BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Alongside the 31st International Universit2024-05-01Giving China's treasures a modern touch
By LI YINGXUE in Chengdu (China Daily) 08:23, August 01, 2023At the Sichuan University Museum, the F2024-05-01U.S. quietly signs off more bombs, fighter jets for Israel: U.S. media
WASHINGTON, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government has authorized the transfer of billions of U.S.2024-05-01China Focus: CPC Theoretical Study Motivates Party Members to Be Better Doers
Contact Us HomeNewsHighlightACWF NewsSocietyWom2024-05-01Railway services resume in east China after 7.3
Railway services in east China's Fujian and Jiangxi provinces have all resumed operations after2024-05-01
atest comment