Doing Genetic Studies on Brown Rats

October 29, 2016 7:14 AM

Jason Munshi-South, a biologist at Fordham University first studied the DNA of rats in every zip code in Manhattan finding greater diversity in the areas with the worst infestations. Then he studied rat samples from around the world and was able to determine where the Brown Rat came from and how it spread around the world. Link to the study.
posted by Bee'sWing (7 comments total)

So the rats in New York City squabble and fight each other but will team up to kill outsider rats?

Yep. They're New Yorkers all right.
posted by Roentgen at 7:35 AM on October 29, 2016 [12 favorites]

I keep reading that name as Jason Sushi-Mouth
posted by asockpuppet at 8:56 AM on October 29, 2016

Suddenly I find myself whispering "Brown Ratsssss".
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:14 AM on October 29, 2016

I think brown rats hear saxophone solos in their heads as they run down their tunnels.
posted by Bee'sWing at 11:01 AM on October 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

tl;dr they all originated from Northern China and Mongolia and it's only taken them 3 centuries to take over the world.

My daughter and I play "spot a rat" when we're in the NYC subway. There are so many rats in Union Square park that at night it looks like the bushes are walking around and then you get closer and realize they're alive with hundreds of rats.
posted by photoslob at 11:33 AM on October 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

They may have been a food source, like Cui in the Andes.
posted by Oyéah at 6:38 PM on October 29, 2016

Rats, by the talented journalist Robert Sullivan, is a good look at these small inhabitants of the big city.
posted by LeLiLo at 9:34 PM on October 29, 2016