Rat
Encyclopedia
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodent
s of the superfamily
Muroidea
. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat
, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat
, Rattus norvegicus. Many members of other rodent genera and families are also referred to as rats, and share many characteristics with true rats.
Rats are typically distinguished from mice
by their size; rats are generally large muroid rodents, while mice are generally small muroid rodents. The muroid family is very large and complex, and the common terms rat and mouse are not taxonomically
specific. Generally, when someone discovers a large muroid, its common name
includes the term rat, while if it is small, the name includes the term mouse. Scientifically, the terms are not confined to members of the Rattus and Mus genera, for example, the pack rat
and cotton mouse
.
are the Black Rat
(Rattus rattus) and the Brown Rat
(Rattus norvegicus). The group is generally known as the Old World
rats or true rats, and originated in Asia
. Rats are bigger than most Old World mice
, which are their relatives, but seldom weigh over 500 grams (1.1 lb) in the wild.
The term "rat" is also used in the names of other small mammals which are not true rats. Examples include the North American
pack rats, a number of species loosely called kangaroo rats, and others. Rats such as the Bandicoot rat (Bandicota bengalensis) are murine rodents related to true rats, but are not members of the genus Rattus. Male rats are called bucks, unmated females are called does, pregnant or parent females are called dams, and infants are called kittens or pups. A group of rats is either referred to as a pack or a mischief.
The common species are opportunistic survivors and often live with and near humans; therefore they are known as commensals. They may cause substantial food losses, especially in developing countries. However, the widely distributed and problematic commensal species of rats are a minority in this diverse genus. Many species of rats are island endemics
and some have become endangered due to habitat loss or competition with the Brown
, Black
or Polynesian
rat.
Wild rodents, including rats, can carry many different zoonotic pathogens, such as Leptospira
, Toxoplasma gondii
, and Campylobacter
. The Black Death
is traditionally believed to have been caused by the micro-organism Yersinia pestis
, carried by the Tropical Rat Flea (Xenopsylla cheopis) which preyed on Black Rat
s living in European cities during the epidemic outbreaks of the Middle Ages; these rats were used as transport hosts. Other zoonotic diseases linked to pest rodents include Classical swine fever
and Foot-and-mouth disease
.
The average lifespan of any given rat depends on which species is being discussed, but many only live about a year due to predation.
Specially bred rats have been kept as pets at least since the late 19th century. Pet rats are typically variants of the species brown rat
, but black rat
s and giant pouched rat
s are also known to be kept. Pet rats behave differently than their wild counterparts depending on how many generations they have been kept as pets. Pet rats do not pose any more of a health risk
than pets such as cat
s or dog
s. Tamed rats are generally friendly and can be taught to perform selected behaviors.
In 1895, Clark University
in Worcester
, Massachusetts
(United States
) established a population of domestic albino brown rats to study the effects of diet and for other physiological studies. Over the years, rats have been used in many experimental studies, which have added to our understanding of genetics
, disease
s, the effects of drug
s, and other topics that have provided a great benefit for the health
and wellbeing of humankind. Laboratory rats have also proved valuable in psychological studies of learning and other mental processes (Barnett, 2002), as well as to understand group behavior and overcrowding (with the work of John B. Calhoun
on behavioral sink
). A 2007 study found rats to possess metacognition
, a mental ability previously only documented in humans and some primates.
Domestic rats differ from wild rats in many ways. They are calmer and less likely to bite; they can tolerate greater crowding; they breed earlier and produce more offspring; and their brain
s, liver
s, kidney
s, adrenal gland
s, and heart
s are smaller (Barnett 2002).
Brown rat
s are often used as model organism
s for scientific research. Since the publication of the Rat Genome Sequence, and other advances such as the creation of a rat SNP chip
, and the production of knockout rats, the laboratory rat
has become a useful genetic tool, although not as popular as mice
. When it comes to conducting tests related to intelligence, learning, and drug abuse
, rats are a popular choice due to their high intelligence
, ingenuity
, aggressiveness, and adaptability
. Their psychology
, in many ways, seems to be similar to humans. Entirely new breed
s or "lines" of brown rats like the Wistar rat have been bred for use in laboratories. Much of the genome of Rattus norvegicus has been sequenced.
or even forbidden in some cultures, is a dietary staple in others. Taboos include fears of disease or religious prohibition, but in many places the high number of rats has led to their incorporation into the local diet.
In some cultures, rats are or have been limited as an acceptable form of food to a particular social or economic class. In the Mishmi
culture of India, rats are essential to the traditional diet, as Mishmi women may eat no meat except fish, pork, wild birds and rats. Conversely, the Musahar
community in north India has commercialised rat farming as an exotic delicacy. In the traditional cultures of the Hawaiians and the Polynesians, rat was an everyday food for commoners. When feasting, the Polynesian people of Rapa Nui could eat rat meat, but the king was not allowed to, due to the islanders' belief in his "state of sacredness" called tapu. In studying pre-contact archaeological sites in Hawaii
, archaeologists have found that the concentration of the remains of rats associated with commoner households counted for three times the animal remains associated with elite households. The rat bones found in all sites are fragmented, burned and covered in carbonized material, indicating that rats were eaten as food. The greater occurrence of rat remains associated with commoner households may indicate that the elites of pre-contact Hawaii did not consume them as a matter of status or taste.
Bandicoot rats are an important food source among some peoples in Southeast Asia
, and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that rat meat makes up half the locally produced meat consumed in Ghana
, where cane rat
s are farmed and hunted for their meat.
African slaves in the American South were known to hunt wood rats (among other animals) to supplement their food rations, and Aborigines along the coast in Southern Queensland, Australia regularly included rats in their diet.
Ricefield rats (Rattus argentiventer) have traditionally been used as food in rice-producing regions like Valencia
, as immortalized by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
in his novel Cañas y barro. Along with eel
and local bean
s known as "garrafons", rata de marjal is one of the main ingredients in traditional paella
(later replaced by rabbit, chicken and seafood). Ricefield rats are also consumed in the Philippines
, the Isaan region of Thailand
, as well as Cambodia
. In late 2008, Reuters reported that the price of rat meat had quadrupled in Cambodia creating a hardship for the poor who could no longer afford it. Cambodia exports about a metric ton of rats daily to Vietnam
as food.
Elsewhere in the world, rat meat is considered diseased and unclean, socially unacceptable, or there are strong religious proscriptions against it. Islam
and Kashrut
traditions prohibit it, while both the Shipibo people of Peru and Sirionó people of Bolivia have cultural taboos against the eating of rats.
Rats are a common food item for snakes, both in the wild, and as pets. Captive-bred ball python
s in particular, are fed a diet of mostly rats. Rats, as food items, are available from many suppliers who supply to individual snake owners as well as to large reptile zoos. In Britain the government in 2007 ruled out the feeding of any live mammal to another animal. The rule says the animal must be dead (frozen) then given to the animal to eat. The rule was put in to place mainly because of the pressure of the RSPCA and people who found it cruel.
, Leptospirosis
and Hantavirus
. Rattus rattus, and the rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis, are notorious for their role in epidemics of bubonic plague
.
detection
On the Isle of Man
(a dependency of the British Crown) there is a taboo
against the word "rat." See Longtail (rat) for more information.
. People born in this year are expected to possess qualities associated with rats, including creativity, intelligence, honesty, generosity, ambition, a quick temper and wastefulness. People born in a year of the rat are said to get along well with "monkeys" and "dragons," and to get along poorly with "horses."
In Indian tradition rats are seen as the vehicle of Ganesha
and a rat's statue is always found in a temple of Ganesh. In the northwestern Indian city of Deshnoke
, the rats at the Karni Mata
Temple are held to be destined for reincarnation
as Sadhu
s (Hindu
holy men). The attending priests feed milk and grain to the rats, of which the pilgrims also partake.
s in the English language. These associations do not draw, per se, from any biological or behavioral trait of the rat, but possibly from the association of rats (and fleas) with the 14th-century medieval plague called the Black Death
. Rats are seen as vicious, unclean, parasitic animals that steal food and spread disease. However some people in European cultures keep rats as pets
and conversely find them to be tame, clean, intelligent, and playful.
Rats are often used in scientific experiment
s; animal rights
activists allege that treatment of rats in this context is cruel. The term "lab rat" is used, typically in a self-effacing manner, to describe a person whose job function requires that they spend a majority of their work time engaged in bench-level research (i.e. a scientist or research assistant).
, rat is often an insult. Rat is generally used to signify an unscrupulous character. Writer/Director Preston Sturges
created the humorous alias "Ratskywatsky" for a soldier who seduced, impregnated, and abandoned the heroine of his 1944 film, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
. It is a term (noun
and verb
) in criminal slang for an informant
- "to rat on someone" is to betray them by informing the authorities of a crime
or misdeed they committed. Describing a person as "rat-like" usually implies he or she is unattractive and suspicious.
Among union
s, "rat" is a term for non-union employers or breakers of union contracts, and this is why unions use inflatable rat
s. http://nj.npri.org/nj98/07/power&privilege.htm
Depictions of rats in fiction are historically inaccurate and negative. The most common falsehood is the squeaking almost always heard in otherwise realistic portrayals (i.e. non-anthropomorphic). While the recordings may be of actual squeaking rats, the noise is uncommon - they may do so only if distressed, hurt, or annoyed. Normal vocalizations are very high-pitched, well outside the range of human hearing. Rats are also often cast in vicious and aggressive roles when in fact it is their shyness which helps keep them undiscovered for so long in an infested home.
The actual portrayals of rats vary from negative to positive with a majority in the negative and ambiguous. The rat plays a villain in several mouse societies; from Brian Jacques's Redwall
and Robin Jarvis's The Deptford Mice
, to the roles of Disney's Professor Ratigan and Kate DiCamillo's Roscuro
and Botticelli
. They have often been used as a mechanism in horror; being the titular evil in stories like The Rats
or H.P. Lovecraft's The Rats in the Walls
and in films like Willard
and Ben. Another terrifying use of rats is as a method of torture, for instance in Room 101
in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four
or The Pit and the Pendulum
by Edgar Allan Poe
.
Selfish helpfulness —those willing to help for a price— has also been attributed to fictional rats. Templeton, from E. B. White's Charlotte's Web
, repeatedly reminds the other characters that he is only involved because it means more food for him, and the cellar-rat of John Masefield's The Midnight Folk
requires bribery to be of any assistance.
By contrast, the rats appearing in the Doctor Dolittle
books tend to be highly positive and likeable characters, many of whom tell their remarkable life stories in the Mouse and Rat Club established by the animal-loving doctor.
Some fictional works use rats as the main characters. Notable examples include the society created by O'Brien's Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
, Doctor Rat, Rizzo the Rat
from The Muppets
, and animated films like Pixar
's Ratatouille
. Mon oncle d'Amérique
("My American Uncle"), a 1980
French film
, illustrates Henri Laborit
's theories on evolutionary psychology
and human behavior
s by using short sequences in the storyline showing lab rat experiments.
In Harry Turtledove
's science fiction novel Homeward Bound, humans unintentionally introduce rats to the ecology at the home world of an alien race which previously invaded Earth and introduced some of its own fauna into its environment. And A. Bertram Chandler
pitted his space-bound protagonist, Commodore Grimes, against giant intelligent rats who took over several stellar systems and enslaved their human inhabitants. "The Stainless Steel Rat
" is nickname of the (human) protagonist of a series of humorous science fiction
novels written by Harry Harrison
, in which a rat-catcher leads away an infestation with enchanted music—the piper is later refused payment, so he in turn leads away the town's children. This tale, placed in Germany around the late 13th century, has inspired the realms of film, theatre, literature, and even opera. The subject of much research, some theories have intertwined the tale with events related to the Black Plague, in which black rat
s may have played an important role. Fictional works based on the tale that focus heavily on the rat aspect include Pratchett's The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
, and Belgian graphic novel Le Bal du Rat Mort (The Ball of the Dead Rat).
. There are several other murine genera that are sometimes considered part of Rattus: Lenothrix, Anonymomys, Sundamys
, Kadarsanomys, Diplothrix, Margaretamys
, Lenomys, Komodomys, Palawanomys, Bunomys
, Nesoromys, Stenomys, Taeromys
, Paruromys, Abditomys, Tryphomys, Limnomys
, Tarsomys
, Bullimus
, Apomys
, Millardia
, Srilankamys, Niviventer
, Maxomys
, Leopoldamys
, Berylmys
, Mastomys
, Myomys, Praomys
, Hylomyscus
, Heimyscus, Stochomys, Dephomys
, and Aethomys
.
The genus Rattus proper contains 64 extant species
. A subgeneric breakdown of the species has been proposed, but does not include all species.
}
}
}}
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s of the superfamily
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Muroidea
Muroidea
Muroidea is a large superfamily of rodents. It includes hamsters, gerbils, true mice and rats, and many other relatives. They occupy a vast variety of habitats on every continent except Antarctica. Some authorities have placed all members of this group into a single family, Muridae, due to...
. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat
Black Rat
The black rat is a common long-tailed rodent of the genus Rattus in the subfamily Murinae . The species originated in tropical Asia and spread through the Near East in Roman times before reaching Europe by the 1st century and spreading with Europeans across the world.-Taxonomy:The black rat was...
, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat
Brown Rat
The brown rat, common rat, sewer rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Brown Norway rat, Norwegian rat, or wharf rat is one of the best known and most common rats....
, Rattus norvegicus. Many members of other rodent genera and families are also referred to as rats, and share many characteristics with true rats.
Rats are typically distinguished from mice
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
by their size; rats are generally large muroid rodents, while mice are generally small muroid rodents. The muroid family is very large and complex, and the common terms rat and mouse are not taxonomically
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
specific. Generally, when someone discovers a large muroid, its common name
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
includes the term rat, while if it is small, the name includes the term mouse. Scientifically, the terms are not confined to members of the Rattus and Mus genera, for example, the pack rat
Pack rat
A packrat, also called a woodrat, can be any of the species in the rodent genus Neotoma. Packrats have a rat-like appearance, with long tails, large ears and large black eyes. Compared to deer mice, harvest mice and grasshopper mice, packrats are noticeably larger and are usually somewhat larger...
and cotton mouse
Cotton Mouse
The Cotton Mouse is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.It is found in the woodlands of the south-eastern states of the United States. Adults are about 7-8 inches, and have an appearance very similar to the white footed mouse. The cotton mouse is larger in size and has a longer...
.
Species and description
The best-known rat speciesSpecies
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
are the Black Rat
Black Rat
The black rat is a common long-tailed rodent of the genus Rattus in the subfamily Murinae . The species originated in tropical Asia and spread through the Near East in Roman times before reaching Europe by the 1st century and spreading with Europeans across the world.-Taxonomy:The black rat was...
(Rattus rattus) and the Brown Rat
Brown Rat
The brown rat, common rat, sewer rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Brown Norway rat, Norwegian rat, or wharf rat is one of the best known and most common rats....
(Rattus norvegicus). The group is generally known as the Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
rats or true rats, and originated in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. Rats are bigger than most Old World mice
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
, which are their relatives, but seldom weigh over 500 grams (1.1 lb) in the wild.
The term "rat" is also used in the names of other small mammals which are not true rats. Examples include the North American
North American
North American generally refers to an entity, people, group, or attribute of North America, especially of the United States and Canada together.-Culture:*North American English, a collective term used to describe American English and Canadian English...
pack rats, a number of species loosely called kangaroo rats, and others. Rats such as the Bandicoot rat (Bandicota bengalensis) are murine rodents related to true rats, but are not members of the genus Rattus. Male rats are called bucks, unmated females are called does, pregnant or parent females are called dams, and infants are called kittens or pups. A group of rats is either referred to as a pack or a mischief.
The common species are opportunistic survivors and often live with and near humans; therefore they are known as commensals. They may cause substantial food losses, especially in developing countries. However, the widely distributed and problematic commensal species of rats are a minority in this diverse genus. Many species of rats are island endemics
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...
and some have become endangered due to habitat loss or competition with the Brown
Brown Rat
The brown rat, common rat, sewer rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Brown Norway rat, Norwegian rat, or wharf rat is one of the best known and most common rats....
, Black
Black Rat
The black rat is a common long-tailed rodent of the genus Rattus in the subfamily Murinae . The species originated in tropical Asia and spread through the Near East in Roman times before reaching Europe by the 1st century and spreading with Europeans across the world.-Taxonomy:The black rat was...
or Polynesian
Polynesian Rat
The Polynesian Rat, or Pacific Rat , known to the Māori as kiore, is the third most widespread species of rat in the world behind the Brown Rat and Black Rat. The Polynesian Rat originates in Southeast Asia but, like its cousins, has become well travelled – infiltrating Fiji and most Polynesian...
rat.
Wild rodents, including rats, can carry many different zoonotic pathogens, such as Leptospira
Leptospira
Leptospira is a genus of spirochaete bacteria, including a small number of pathogenic and saprophytic species...
, Toxoplasma gondii
Toxoplasma gondii
Toxoplasma gondii is a species of parasitic protozoa in the genus Toxoplasma. The definitive host of T. gondii is the cat, but the parasite can be carried by many warm-blooded animals . Toxoplasmosis, the disease of which T...
, and Campylobacter
Campylobacter
Campylobacter is a genus of bacteria that are Gram-negative, spiral, and microaerophilic. Motile, with either unipolar or bipolar flagella, the organisms have a characteristic spiral/corkscrew appearance and are oxidase-positive. Campylobacter jejuni is now recognized as one of the main causes...
. The Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
is traditionally believed to have been caused by the micro-organism Yersinia pestis
Yersinia pestis
Yersinia pestis is a Gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium. It is a facultative anaerobe that can infect humans and other animals....
, carried by the Tropical Rat Flea (Xenopsylla cheopis) which preyed on Black Rat
Black Rat
The black rat is a common long-tailed rodent of the genus Rattus in the subfamily Murinae . The species originated in tropical Asia and spread through the Near East in Roman times before reaching Europe by the 1st century and spreading with Europeans across the world.-Taxonomy:The black rat was...
s living in European cities during the epidemic outbreaks of the Middle Ages; these rats were used as transport hosts. Other zoonotic diseases linked to pest rodents include Classical swine fever
Classical swine fever
Classical swine fever or hog cholera is a highly contagious disease of pigs and wild boar.-Clinical Signs:...
and Foot-and-mouth disease
Foot-and-mouth disease
Foot-and-mouth disease or hoof-and-mouth disease is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids...
.
The average lifespan of any given rat depends on which species is being discussed, but many only live about a year due to predation.
As pets
Brown Rat
The brown rat, common rat, sewer rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Brown Norway rat, Norwegian rat, or wharf rat is one of the best known and most common rats....
, but black rat
Black Rat
The black rat is a common long-tailed rodent of the genus Rattus in the subfamily Murinae . The species originated in tropical Asia and spread through the Near East in Roman times before reaching Europe by the 1st century and spreading with Europeans across the world.-Taxonomy:The black rat was...
s and giant pouched rat
Giant pouched rat
The giant pouched rats of sub-Saharan Africa are large muroid rodents. Their head and body length ranges from 25–45 cm with scaly tails ranging from 36–46 cm...
s are also known to be kept. Pet rats behave differently than their wild counterparts depending on how many generations they have been kept as pets. Pet rats do not pose any more of a health risk
Zoonosis
A zoonosis or zoonoseis any infectious disease that can be transmitted from non-human animals to humans or from humans to non-human animals . In a study of 1415 pathogens known to affect humans, 61% were zoonotic...
than pets such as cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
s or dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
s. Tamed rats are generally friendly and can be taught to perform selected behaviors.
As subjects of scientific research
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university and liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts.Founded in 1887, it is the oldest educational institution founded as an all-graduate university. Clark now also educates undergraduates...
in Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
(United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) established a population of domestic albino brown rats to study the effects of diet and for other physiological studies. Over the years, rats have been used in many experimental studies, which have added to our understanding of genetics
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
, disease
Disease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
s, the effects of drug
Drug
A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...
s, and other topics that have provided a great benefit for the health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
and wellbeing of humankind. Laboratory rats have also proved valuable in psychological studies of learning and other mental processes (Barnett, 2002), as well as to understand group behavior and overcrowding (with the work of John B. Calhoun
John B. Calhoun
John B. Calhoun was an American ecologist and research psychologist noted for his studies of population density and its effects on behavior. He claimed that the bleak effects of overpopulation on rodents were a grim model for the future of the human race...
on behavioral sink
Behavioral sink
In 1958, ethologist John B. Calhoun conducted over-population experiments on rats on a farmland in Rockville, Maryland which resulted in the publication of an article in the Scientific American of a study of behavior under conditions of overcrowding , also referred to Crowding into the Behavioral...
). A 2007 study found rats to possess metacognition
Metacognition
Metacognition is defined as "cognition about cognition", or "knowing about knowing." It can take many forms; it includes knowledge about when and how to use particular strategies for learning or for problem solving...
, a mental ability previously only documented in humans and some primates.
Domestic rats differ from wild rats in many ways. They are calmer and less likely to bite; they can tolerate greater crowding; they breed earlier and produce more offspring; and their brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
s, liver
Liver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
s, kidney
Kidney
The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...
s, adrenal gland
Adrenal gland
In mammals, the adrenal glands are endocrine glands that sit atop the kidneys; in humans, the right suprarenal gland is triangular shaped, while the left suprarenal gland is semilunar shaped...
s, and heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
s are smaller (Barnett 2002).
Brown rat
Brown Rat
The brown rat, common rat, sewer rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Brown Norway rat, Norwegian rat, or wharf rat is one of the best known and most common rats....
s are often used as model organism
Model organism
A model organism is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the organism model will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Model organisms are in vivo models and are widely used to...
s for scientific research. Since the publication of the Rat Genome Sequence, and other advances such as the creation of a rat SNP chip
SNP genotyping
SNP genotyping is the measurement of genetic variations of single nucleotide polymorphisms between members of a species. It is a form of genotyping, which is the measurement of more general genetic variation. SNPs are one of the most common types of genetic variation...
, and the production of knockout rats, the laboratory rat
Laboratory rat
A laboratory rat is a rat of the species Rattus norvegicus which is bred and kept for scientific research. Laboratory rats have served as an important animal model for research in psychology, medicine, and other fields.- Origins :...
has become a useful genetic tool, although not as popular as mice
MICE
-Fiction:*Mice , alien species in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*The Mice -Acronyms:* "Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions", facilities terminology for events...
. When it comes to conducting tests related to intelligence, learning, and drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
, rats are a popular choice due to their high intelligence
Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....
, ingenuity
Ingenuity
Ingenuity refers to the process of applying ideas to solve problems or meet challenges. The process of figuring out how to cross a mountain stream using a fallen log, build an airplane from a sheet of paper, or start a new company in a foreign culture all involve the exercising of ingenuity...
, aggressiveness, and adaptability
Adaptability
Adaptability is a feature of a system or of a process. This word has been put to use as a specialised term in different disciplines and in business operations. Word definitions of adaptability as a specialised term differ little from dictionary definitions...
. Their psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, in many ways, seems to be similar to humans. Entirely new breed
Breed
A breed is a group of domestic animals or plants with a homogeneous appearance, behavior, and other characteristics that distinguish it from other animals or plants of the same species. Despite the centrality of the idea of "breeds" to animal husbandry, there is no scientifically accepted...
s or "lines" of brown rats like the Wistar rat have been bred for use in laboratories. Much of the genome of Rattus norvegicus has been sequenced.
As food
Rat meat is a food that, while tabooTaboo food and drink
Taboo food and drink are food and beverages which people abstain from consuming for religious, cultural or hygienic reasons. Many food taboos forbid the meat of a particular animal, including mammals, rodents, reptiles, amphibians, bony fish, and crustaceans...
or even forbidden in some cultures, is a dietary staple in others. Taboos include fears of disease or religious prohibition, but in many places the high number of rats has led to their incorporation into the local diet.
In some cultures, rats are or have been limited as an acceptable form of food to a particular social or economic class. In the Mishmi
Mishmi
The Mishmi or Deng people of Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh are an ethnic group comprising mainly three tribes: Idu Mishmi ; Digaro Mishmi , and Miju Mishmi . The Mishmis occupy the north-eastern tip of the central Arunachal Pradesh/South Tibet in Upper and Lower Dibang Valley, Lohit and Anjaw...
culture of India, rats are essential to the traditional diet, as Mishmi women may eat no meat except fish, pork, wild birds and rats. Conversely, the Musahar
Musahar
The Musahar are a Hindu scheduled caste found in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India, & Terai. They are also known as Arya or Banbasi.- Origin :...
community in north India has commercialised rat farming as an exotic delicacy. In the traditional cultures of the Hawaiians and the Polynesians, rat was an everyday food for commoners. When feasting, the Polynesian people of Rapa Nui could eat rat meat, but the king was not allowed to, due to the islanders' belief in his "state of sacredness" called tapu. In studying pre-contact archaeological sites in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, archaeologists have found that the concentration of the remains of rats associated with commoner households counted for three times the animal remains associated with elite households. The rat bones found in all sites are fragmented, burned and covered in carbonized material, indicating that rats were eaten as food. The greater occurrence of rat remains associated with commoner households may indicate that the elites of pre-contact Hawaii did not consume them as a matter of status or taste.
Bandicoot rats are an important food source among some peoples in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that rat meat makes up half the locally produced meat consumed in Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, where cane rat
Cane rat
The genus Thryonomys, also known as cane rats, grass cutters, or cutting grass, is a genus of rodent found throughout Africa south of the Sahara, the only members of the family Thyronomyidae. They are eaten in some African countries and are a pest species on many crops.-Characteristics:Cane rats...
s are farmed and hunted for their meat.
African slaves in the American South were known to hunt wood rats (among other animals) to supplement their food rations, and Aborigines along the coast in Southern Queensland, Australia regularly included rats in their diet.
Ricefield rats (Rattus argentiventer) have traditionally been used as food in rice-producing regions like Valencia
Valencia (province)
Valencia or València is a province of Spain, in the central part of the Valencian Community.It is bordered by the provinces of Alicante, Albacete, Cuenca, Teruel, Castellón, and the Mediterranean Sea...
, as immortalized by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
Vicente Blasco Ibáñez was a Spanish realist novelist writing in Spanish, a screenwriter and occasional film director....
in his novel Cañas y barro. Along with eel
Eel
Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...
and local bean
Bean
Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed....
s known as "garrafons", rata de marjal is one of the main ingredients in traditional paella
Paella
Paella is a Valencian rice dish that originated in its modern form in the mid-19th century near lake Albufera, a lagoon in Valencia, on the east coast of Spain. Many non-Spaniards view paella as Spain's national dish, but most Spaniards consider it to be a regional Valencian dish...
(later replaced by rabbit, chicken and seafood). Ricefield rats are also consumed in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, the Isaan region of Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, as well as Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
. In late 2008, Reuters reported that the price of rat meat had quadrupled in Cambodia creating a hardship for the poor who could no longer afford it. Cambodia exports about a metric ton of rats daily to Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
as food.
Elsewhere in the world, rat meat is considered diseased and unclean, socially unacceptable, or there are strong religious proscriptions against it. Islam
Islamic dietary laws
Islamic dietary laws provide direction on what is to be considered clean and unclean regarding diet and related issues.-Overview:Islamic jurisprudence specifies which foods are ' and which are '...
and Kashrut
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
traditions prohibit it, while both the Shipibo people of Peru and Sirionó people of Bolivia have cultural taboos against the eating of rats.
Rats are a common food item for snakes, both in the wild, and as pets. Captive-bred ball python
Ball python
Python regius is a nonvenomous python species found in Africa. This is the smallest of the African pythons and is popular in the pet trade. No subspecies are currently recognized. They are also known as royal pythons or ball pythons. The name ball python refers to the animal's tendency to curl into...
s in particular, are fed a diet of mostly rats. Rats, as food items, are available from many suppliers who supply to individual snake owners as well as to large reptile zoos. In Britain the government in 2007 ruled out the feeding of any live mammal to another animal. The rule says the animal must be dead (frozen) then given to the animal to eat. The rule was put in to place mainly because of the pressure of the RSPCA and people who found it cruel.
In medicine
Rats can serve as zoonotic vectors for certain pathogens and thus cause disease, such as Lassa feverLassa fever
Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus and first described in 1969 in the town of Lassa, in Borno State, Nigeria, in the Yedseram river valley at the south end of Lake Chad. Clinical cases of the disease had been known for over a decade but had not been connected...
, Leptospirosis
Leptospirosis
Leptospirosis is caused by infection with bacteria of the genus Leptospira, and affects humans as well as other mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles.The...
and Hantavirus
Hantavirus
Hantaviruses are negative sense RNA viruses in the Bunyaviridae family. Humans may be infected with hantaviruses through rodent bites, urine, saliva or contact with rodent waste products...
. Rattus rattus, and the rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis, are notorious for their role in epidemics of bubonic plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
.
In odor detection
Rats have a very good sense of smell and are easy to train, this has led to their use in Landmine and TuberculosisTuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
detection
In culture
Ancient Romans did not generally differentiate between rats and mice, instead referring to the former as Mus Maximus (big mouse) and the latter as Mus Minimus (little mouse).On the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
(a dependency of the British Crown) there is a taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
against the word "rat." See Longtail (rat) for more information.
In Asian cultures
In Imperial Chinese culture, the rat (sometimes referred to as a mouse) is the first of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiacChinese zodiac
The Shēngxiào , better known in English as the Chinese Zodiac, is a scheme that relates each year to an animal and its reputed attributes, according to a 12-year mathematical cycle...
. People born in this year are expected to possess qualities associated with rats, including creativity, intelligence, honesty, generosity, ambition, a quick temper and wastefulness. People born in a year of the rat are said to get along well with "monkeys" and "dragons," and to get along poorly with "horses."
Ganesha
Ganesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
and a rat's statue is always found in a temple of Ganesh. In the northwestern Indian city of Deshnoke
Deshnoke
Deshnoke is a small town in the Bikaner district of Rajasthan, India, near the Pakistan border and about 30 km from Bikaner.Deshnoke is famous for its 600 year old Karni Mata temple where rats are worshipped. Goddess Karni mata is worshiped by the royal family as well as general public of...
, the rats at the Karni Mata
Karni Mata
Karni Mata was a female Hindu sage born in the Charan caste and is worshiped as the incarnation of the goddess Durga by her followers. She is an official deity of the royal family of Jodhpur and Bikaner. During her lifetime, she laid the foundation stone of two of the important forts in Rajputana...
Temple are held to be destined for reincarnation
Reincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
as Sadhu
Sadhu
In Hinduism, sādhu denotes an ascetic, wandering monk. Although the vast majority of sādhus are yogīs, not all yogīs are sādhus. The sādhu is solely dedicated to achieving mokṣa , the fourth and final aśrama , through meditation and contemplation of brahman...
s (Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
holy men). The attending priests feed milk and grain to the rats, of which the pilgrims also partake.
In European cultures
European associations with the rat are generally negative. For instance, "Rats!" is used as a substitute for various vulgar interjectionInterjection
In grammar, an interjection or exclamation is a word used to express an emotion or sentiment on the part of the speaker . Filled pauses such as uh, er, um are also considered interjections...
s in the English language. These associations do not draw, per se, from any biological or behavioral trait of the rat, but possibly from the association of rats (and fleas) with the 14th-century medieval plague called the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
. Rats are seen as vicious, unclean, parasitic animals that steal food and spread disease. However some people in European cultures keep rats as pets
Fancy rat
The fancy rat is a domesticated brown rat , which is the most common type of pet rat. The name fancy rat derives from the idea of animal fancy or the phrase "to fancy" ....
and conversely find them to be tame, clean, intelligent, and playful.
Rats are often used in scientific experiment
Experiment
An experiment is a methodical procedure carried out with the goal of verifying, falsifying, or establishing the validity of a hypothesis. Experiments vary greatly in their goal and scale, but always rely on repeatable procedure and logical analysis of the results...
s; animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
activists allege that treatment of rats in this context is cruel. The term "lab rat" is used, typically in a self-effacing manner, to describe a person whose job function requires that they spend a majority of their work time engaged in bench-level research (i.e. a scientist or research assistant).
Rat in terminology
Rats are frequently blamed for damaging food supplies and other goods, or spreading disease. Their reputation has carried into common parlance: in the English languageEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, rat is often an insult. Rat is generally used to signify an unscrupulous character. Writer/Director Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges , originally Edmund Preston Biden, was a celebrated playwright, screenwriter and film director born in Chicago, Illinois...
created the humorous alias "Ratskywatsky" for a soldier who seduced, impregnated, and abandoned the heroine of his 1944 film, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek is a 1944 screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton, and featuring Diana Lynn, William Demarest and Porter Hall...
. It is a term (noun
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
and verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
) in criminal slang for an informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
- "to rat on someone" is to betray them by informing the authorities of a crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
or misdeed they committed. Describing a person as "rat-like" usually implies he or she is unattractive and suspicious.
Among union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s, "rat" is a term for non-union employers or breakers of union contracts, and this is why unions use inflatable rat
Inflatable rat
Inflatable rats, or union rats, are commonly used in the United States of America by protesting or striking trade unions against their employers or against nonunion contractors, serving as a sign of opposition and to call public attention to companies employing nonunion labor...
s. http://nj.npri.org/nj98/07/power&privilege.htm
In Judeo-Christianity
- In LeviticusLeviticusThe Book of Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, and the third of five books of the Torah ....
11:29, rats are prohibited as food. (See 'as food' above.)
In fiction
The actual portrayals of rats vary from negative to positive with a majority in the negative and ambiguous. The rat plays a villain in several mouse societies; from Brian Jacques's Redwall
Redwall
Redwall, by Brian Jacques, is a series of fantasy novels. It is the title of the first book of the series, published in 1986, the name of the Abbey featured in the book, and the name of an animated TV series based on three of the novels , which first aired in 1999...
and Robin Jarvis's The Deptford Mice
The Deptford Mice
The Deptford Mice is a trilogy of novels by Robin Jarvis. They follow the story of a group of mice living in Deptford, London as they fight an evil cat god named Jupiter.-The Dark Portal:...
, to the roles of Disney's Professor Ratigan and Kate DiCamillo's Roscuro
The Tale of Despereaux
The Tale of Despereaux, also known as The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread is a 2004 Newbery Medal winning fantasy book written by Kate DiCamillo. The main plot follows the adventures of a mouse named Despereaux, who sets out on his quest...
and Botticelli
The Tale of Despereaux (film)
The Tale of Despereaux is a 2008 computer-animated film directed by Sam Fell and Robert Stevenhagen. Loosely based on the 2003 fantasy book of the same name by Kate DiCamillo, the movie is narrated by Sigourney Weaver and stars Matthew Broderick and Emma Watson...
. They have often been used as a mechanism in horror; being the titular evil in stories like The Rats
The Rats (novel)
The Rats is a horror novel written by British author James Herbert. This was Herbert's first novel and included graphic depictions of death and mutilation. A film adaptation was made in 1982, called Deadly Eyes. A 1985 adventure game for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum based on the book was...
or H.P. Lovecraft's The Rats in the Walls
The Rats in the Walls
"The Rats in the Walls" is a short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft. Written in August–September 1923, it was first published in Weird Tales, March 1924.-Plot summary:...
and in films like Willard
Willard (1971 film)
Willard is a 1971 horror film starring Bruce Davison and Ernest Borgnine, directed by Daniel Mann. The movie is based on the novel Ratman's Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert, and was nominated for an Edgar Award for best picture...
and Ben. Another terrifying use of rats is as a method of torture, for instance in Room 101
Room 101
Room 101 is a place introduced in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. It is a torture chamber in the Ministry of Love in which the Party attempts to subject a prisoner to his or her own worst nightmare, fear or phobia....
in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
or The Pit and the Pendulum
The Pit and the Pendulum
"The Pit and the Pendulum" is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe and first published in 1842 in the literary annual The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843. The story is about the torments endured by a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition, though Poe skews historical facts. The...
by Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
.
Selfish helpfulness —those willing to help for a price— has also been attributed to fictional rats. Templeton, from E. B. White's Charlotte's Web
Charlotte's Web
Charlotte's Web is an award-winning children's novel by acclaimed American author E. B. White, about a pig named Wilbur who is saved from being slaughtered by an intelligent spider named Charlotte. The book was first published in 1952, with illustrations by Garth Williams.The novel tells the story...
, repeatedly reminds the other characters that he is only involved because it means more food for him, and the cellar-rat of John Masefield's The Midnight Folk
The Midnight Folk
The Midnight Folk is a children's fantasy novel by John Masefield first published in 1927. It is about a boy, Kay Harker, who sets out to discover what became of a fortune stolen from his sea-faring great grandfather Aston Tirrold Harker...
requires bribery to be of any assistance.
By contrast, the rats appearing in the Doctor Dolittle
Doctor Dolittle
Doctor John Dolittle is the central character of a series of children's books by Hugh Lofting starting with the 1920 The Story of Doctor Dolittle. He is a doctor who shuns human patients in favour of animals, with whom he can speak in their own languages...
books tend to be highly positive and likeable characters, many of whom tell their remarkable life stories in the Mouse and Rat Club established by the animal-loving doctor.
Some fictional works use rats as the main characters. Notable examples include the society created by O'Brien's Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is a 1971 children's book by Robert C. O'Brien. Illustrated by Zena Bernstein, it won the 1972 Newbery Medal. A film adaptation, The Secret of NIMH, was released in 1982....
, Doctor Rat, Rizzo the Rat
Rizzo the Rat
Rizzo the Rat is a Muppet, performed by Steve Whitmire. Rizzo first appeared in episode 418 of The Muppet Show, as one of a group of rats following Christopher Reeve around backstage. He can be seen mugging and reacting to practically every line of dialogue. He remained a scene-stealing background...
from The Muppets
The Muppets
The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson starting in 1954–55. Although the term is often used to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show, the term is both an informal name and legal trademark owned by the Walt Disney Company in reference...
, and animated films like Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
's Ratatouille
Ratatouille (film)
Ratatouille is a 2007 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the eighth film produced by Pixar, and was directed by Brad Bird, who took over from Jan Pinkava in 2005...
. Mon oncle d'Amérique
Mon oncle d'Amérique
Mon oncle d'Amérique is a 1980 French film directed by Alain Resnais.- Plot :The didactic film is built around the ideas of French physician, writer and philosopher Henri Laborit, who plays himself in the film...
("My American Uncle"), a 1980
1980 in film
- Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year ....
French film
Cinema of France
The Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...
, illustrates Henri Laborit
Henri Laborit
Henri Laborit was a French physician, writer and philosopher.Laborit was born in Hanoi, Vietnam and started his career as a neurosurgeon in the Marines and then moved on to fundamental research. He won the prestigious Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research in 1957...
's theories on evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, the functional...
and human behavior
Human behavior
Human behavior refers to the range of behaviors exhibited by humans and which are influenced by culture, attitudes, emotions, values, ethics, authority, rapport, hypnosis, persuasion, coercion and/or genetics....
s by using short sequences in the storyline showing lab rat experiments.
In Harry Turtledove
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
's science fiction novel Homeward Bound, humans unintentionally introduce rats to the ecology at the home world of an alien race which previously invaded Earth and introduced some of its own fauna into its environment. And A. Bertram Chandler
A. Bertram Chandler
Arthur Bertram Chandler was a British-Australian science fiction author. He also wrote under the pseudonyms George Whitley, George Whitely, Andrew Dunstan, and S.H.M....
pitted his space-bound protagonist, Commodore Grimes, against giant intelligent rats who took over several stellar systems and enslaved their human inhabitants. "The Stainless Steel Rat
The Stainless Steel Rat
James Bolivar DiGriz, alias "Slippery Jim" and "The Stainless Steel Rat", is the fictional hero of a series of humorous science fiction novels written by Harry Harrison.-James Bolivar diGriz:...
" is nickname of the (human) protagonist of a series of humorous science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novels written by Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! , the basis for the film Soylent Green...
The Pied Piper
One of the oldest and most historic stories about rats is The Pied Piper of HamelinThe Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin is the subject of a legend concerning the departure or death of a great many children from the town of Hamelin , Lower Saxony, Germany, in the Middle Ages. The earliest references describe a piper, dressed in pied clothing, leading the children away from the town never...
, in which a rat-catcher leads away an infestation with enchanted music—the piper is later refused payment, so he in turn leads away the town's children. This tale, placed in Germany around the late 13th century, has inspired the realms of film, theatre, literature, and even opera. The subject of much research, some theories have intertwined the tale with events related to the Black Plague, in which black rat
Black Rat
The black rat is a common long-tailed rodent of the genus Rattus in the subfamily Murinae . The species originated in tropical Asia and spread through the Near East in Roman times before reaching Europe by the 1st century and spreading with Europeans across the world.-Taxonomy:The black rat was...
s may have played an important role. Fictional works based on the tale that focus heavily on the rat aspect include Pratchett's The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents is the 28th novel in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, published in 2001. It was the first Discworld book to be aimed at the younger market; this was followed by The Wee Free Men in 2003...
, and Belgian graphic novel Le Bal du Rat Mort (The Ball of the Dead Rat).
Taxonomy of Rattus
The genus Rattus is a member of the giant subfamily MurinaeMurinae
The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. This subfamily is larger than all mammal families except the Cricetidae and Muridae, and is larger than all mammal orders except the bats and the remainder of the...
. There are several other murine genera that are sometimes considered part of Rattus: Lenothrix, Anonymomys, Sundamys
Sundamys
Sundamys is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae.It contains the following species:* Mountain Giant Sunda Rat * Bartels's Rat * Müller's Giant Sunda Rat...
, Kadarsanomys, Diplothrix, Margaretamys
Margaretamys
Margaretamys is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae.It contains the following species:* Beccari's Margareta Rat * Elegant Margareta Rat * Little Margareta Rat...
, Lenomys, Komodomys, Palawanomys, Bunomys
Bunomys
Bunomys is a genus of rodent from Sulawesi and Butung Island.-Species:Genus Bunomys*Andrew's Hill Rat, Bunomys andrewsi J. A...
, Nesoromys, Stenomys, Taeromys
Taeromys
Taeromys is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae.It contains the following species:* Salokko Rat * Lovely-haired Rat * Celebes Rat...
, Paruromys, Abditomys, Tryphomys, Limnomys
Limnomys
Limnomys is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae.It contains the following species:* Gray-bellied Mountain Rat * Mindanao Mountain Rat...
, Tarsomys
Tarsomys
Tarsomys is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae.It contains the following species:* Long-footed Rat * Spiny Long-footed Rat...
, Bullimus
Bullimus
Bullimus is a genus of rodent from the Philippines, as first catalogued by Mearns, in 1905.-Species:Genus Bullimus*Bagobo Rat, Bullimus bagobus, Mindanao*Camiguin Forest Rat, Bullimus gamay, Camiguin...
, Apomys
Apomys
Apomys is a genus of rodent endemic to the Philippines. Mice belonging to this genus are generally called Philippine forest mice and can be found on most islands of the Philippines except in Palawan, the Sulu Archipelago, and the Batanes and Babuyan group of islands.Apomys mice weigh from 18g to...
, Millardia
Millardia
Millardia is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae.It contains the following species:* Sand-colored Soft-furred Rat * Miss Ryley's Soft-furred Rat * Kondana Soft-furred Rat...
, Srilankamys, Niviventer
Niviventer
Niviventer is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae. It contains the following species:* Anderson's White-bellied Rat, Niviventer andersoni* Brahma White-bellied Rat, Niviventer brahma...
, Maxomys
Maxomys
Maxomys is a genus of mice, widespread in Southeast Asia. They are mid-sized rodents, similar to rats, that live on the ground of tropical rainforests. There they build nests, padded with fallen leaves from trees. They feed on roots, fallen fruit, and other plants, as well as insects...
, Leopoldamys
Leopoldamys
Leopoldamys is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae.It contains the following species:* Sundaic Mountain Long-tailed Giant Rat * Edwards's Long-tailed Giant Rat...
, Berylmys
Berylmys
The White-toothed rats, genus Berylmys, are a group of Old World rats from Asia.-Species:Genus Berylmys*Small White-toothed Rat, Berylmys berdmorei Blyth, 1851*Bower's White-Toothed Rat, Berylmys bowersi Anderson, 1879...
, Mastomys
Mastomys
Mastomys is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae.It contains the following species:* Awash Mastomys * Southern Multimammate Mouse * Guinea Multimammate Mouse...
, Myomys, Praomys
Praomys
Praomys is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae.It contains the following species:* Praomys coetzeei* Dalton's Mouse, Praomys daltoni* De Graaff's Soft-furred Mouse, Praomys degraaffi...
, Hylomyscus
Hylomyscus
Hylomyscus is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae.It contains the following species:Genus Hylomyscus - African wood mice*H. aeta group**Beaded Wood Mouse, Hylomyscus aeta**Hylomyscus grandis*H...
, Heimyscus, Stochomys, Dephomys
Dephomys
Dephomys is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae.It contains the following species:* Defua Rat * Ivory Coast Rat...
, and Aethomys
Aethomys
Aethomys is a genus of rodent from Africa. They are commonly referred to as rock rats, bush rats or rock mice.-Species:*Genus Aethomys**Aethomys bocagei - Bocage's Rock Rat...
.
The genus Rattus proper contains 64 extant species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
. A subgeneric breakdown of the species has been proposed, but does not include all species.
Species of rats
See also
- Black ratBlack RatThe black rat is a common long-tailed rodent of the genus Rattus in the subfamily Murinae . The species originated in tropical Asia and spread through the Near East in Roman times before reaching Europe by the 1st century and spreading with Europeans across the world.-Taxonomy:The black rat was...
- Brown ratBrown RatThe brown rat, common rat, sewer rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Brown Norway rat, Norwegian rat, or wharf rat is one of the best known and most common rats....
- List of fictional mice and rats
- MouseMouseA mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
- Oriental rat flea
- Rat (zodiac)Rat (zodiac)The Rat is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar, the Year of the Rat is associated with the earthly branch symbol 子...
- Rat-baitingRat-baitingRat-baiting is a blood sport involving the baiting of rats in a pit. Unlike most varieties of baiting, there were usually more rats than dogs involved in an exhibition.-History:...
- Rat-catcherRat-catcherRat-catching is the occupation of catching rats as a form of pest control. In developed countries the role may be merged with, or the title inflated to, Pest Control Operative or Pest Technician....
- Working ratWorking ratA working rat refers to any member of a species commonly called a rat which is trained for specific tasks as a working animal. In many cases, working rats are domesticated brown rats...
- Rattus NorvegicusRattus Norvegicus (album)Rattus Norvegicus is the first studio album by The Stranglers, released on 17 April 1977. The album was originally to be entitled "Dead on Arrival" but was changed at the last minute...
, a punk-rock album by the band The StranglersThe StranglersThe Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
which uses the Latin name for "Brown Rat". - East Timor giant rat
Further reading
- Barnett, S. Anthony (2002) The Story of Rats: Their Impact on Us, and Our Impact on Them, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, 202 pages, ISBN 1-86508-519-7.
- Hendrickson, R. (1983) More Cunning than Man: A Complete History of the Rat and its Role in Civilization, Kensington Books. ISBN 1-57566-393-7.
- Jahn, G. C., P. Cox, S. Mak, and N. Chhorn (1999) "Farmer participatory research on rat management in Cambodia", In G. Singleton, L. Hinds, H. Leirs and Zhibin Zhang [Eds.] Ecologically-based rodent management ACIAR, Canberra. Ch. 17, pp. 358–371. ISBN 1863202625.
- Matthews, I. (1898). Full Revelations of a Professional Rat-Catcher, after 25 Years’ Experience. 1st ed. Manchester: Friendly Societies Printing Co. ISBN 1-905124-64-3.
- Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 1993. "Family MuridaeMuridaeMuridae is the largest family of mammals. It contains over 600 species found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. They have been introduced worldwide. The group includes true mice and rats, gerbils, and relatives....
" in D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. "MammalMammalMammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
SpeciesSpeciesIn biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference", Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. pp. 501–755. - Nowak, R. M. (1999) Walker's MammalMammalMammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s of the World Vol. 2. Johns Hopkins University Press, London. - Sullivan, Robert (2004). Rats: A Year with New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's Most Unwanted Inhabitants. Granta Books, London. - Sullivan, Robert (2005). Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants. Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 1-58234-477-9.
External links
- High-Resolution Images of the Rat Brain
- National Bio Resource Project for the Rat in Japan
- Rat Behaviour and Biology
- Rat Genome Database
}
}
}}