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.
Police in Georgia use tear gas, water cannons to disperse protest against so
Agency eyes more Luban Workshops
Leaders join provincial delegations to deliberate on Government Work Report
Mainland, KMT seek common ground: Promoting exchange, opposing external interference
What to expect at two sessions in pivotal year
China envoy embarks on shuttle diplomacy
Browns, center Brian Allen agree to 1
West accused of dragging Russia into arms race