The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition
While the impacts of black (Rattus rattus) and brown (Rattus norvegicus) rats on human society are well documented—including the spread of disease, broad-scale environmental destruction, and billions spent annually on animal control—little is known about their ecology and behavior in urban areas...
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ftunichicagoknow:oai:uchicago.tind.io:11515 2024-09-09T20:05:00+00:00 The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition Guiry, Eric Kennedy, Ryan Orton, David Armitage, Philip Bratten, John Dagneau, Charles Dawdy, Shannon deFrance, Susan Gaulton, Barry Givens, David Hall, Olivia Laberge, Anne Lavin, Michael Miller, Henry Minkoff, Mary F. Niculescu, Tatiana Noël, Stéphane Pavao-Zuckerman, Barnet Stricker, Leah Teeter, Matt Welker, Martin Wilkoski, Jennifer Szpak, Paul Buckley, Michael 2024-04-04T18:22:40Z https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adm6755 http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/11515 eng eng https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/11515/files/sciadv.adm6755.pdf https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/11515/files/sciadv.adm6755_sm.pdf doi:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adm6755 http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/11515 http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/11515 Text 2024 ftunichicagoknow https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adm6755 2024-08-05T14:08:09Z While the impacts of black (Rattus rattus) and brown (Rattus norvegicus) rats on human society are well documented—including the spread of disease, broad-scale environmental destruction, and billions spent annually on animal control—little is known about their ecology and behavior in urban areas due to the challenges of studying animals in city environments. We use isotopic and ZooMS analysis of archaeological (1550s–1900 CE) rat remains from eastern North America to provide a large-scale framework for species arrival, interspecific competition, and dietary ecology. Brown rats arrived earlier than expected and rapidly outcompeted black rats in coastal urban areas. This replacement happened despite evidence that the two species occupy different trophic positions. Findings include the earliest molecularly confirmed brown rat in the Americas and show a deep ecological structure to how rats exploit human-structured areas, with implications for understanding urban zoonosis, rat management, and ecosystem planning as well as broader themes of rat dispersal, phylogeny, evolutionary ecology, and climate impacts. Text Rattus rattus Knowledge@UChicago (University of Chicago) Science Advances 10 14 |
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Knowledge@UChicago (University of Chicago) |
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ftunichicagoknow |
language |
English |
description |
While the impacts of black (Rattus rattus) and brown (Rattus norvegicus) rats on human society are well documented—including the spread of disease, broad-scale environmental destruction, and billions spent annually on animal control—little is known about their ecology and behavior in urban areas due to the challenges of studying animals in city environments. We use isotopic and ZooMS analysis of archaeological (1550s–1900 CE) rat remains from eastern North America to provide a large-scale framework for species arrival, interspecific competition, and dietary ecology. Brown rats arrived earlier than expected and rapidly outcompeted black rats in coastal urban areas. This replacement happened despite evidence that the two species occupy different trophic positions. Findings include the earliest molecularly confirmed brown rat in the Americas and show a deep ecological structure to how rats exploit human-structured areas, with implications for understanding urban zoonosis, rat management, and ecosystem planning as well as broader themes of rat dispersal, phylogeny, evolutionary ecology, and climate impacts. |
format |
Text |
author |
Guiry, Eric Kennedy, Ryan Orton, David Armitage, Philip Bratten, John Dagneau, Charles Dawdy, Shannon deFrance, Susan Gaulton, Barry Givens, David Hall, Olivia Laberge, Anne Lavin, Michael Miller, Henry Minkoff, Mary F. Niculescu, Tatiana Noël, Stéphane Pavao-Zuckerman, Barnet Stricker, Leah Teeter, Matt Welker, Martin Wilkoski, Jennifer Szpak, Paul Buckley, Michael |
spellingShingle |
Guiry, Eric Kennedy, Ryan Orton, David Armitage, Philip Bratten, John Dagneau, Charles Dawdy, Shannon deFrance, Susan Gaulton, Barry Givens, David Hall, Olivia Laberge, Anne Lavin, Michael Miller, Henry Minkoff, Mary F. Niculescu, Tatiana Noël, Stéphane Pavao-Zuckerman, Barnet Stricker, Leah Teeter, Matt Welker, Martin Wilkoski, Jennifer Szpak, Paul Buckley, Michael The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition |
author_facet |
Guiry, Eric Kennedy, Ryan Orton, David Armitage, Philip Bratten, John Dagneau, Charles Dawdy, Shannon deFrance, Susan Gaulton, Barry Givens, David Hall, Olivia Laberge, Anne Lavin, Michael Miller, Henry Minkoff, Mary F. Niculescu, Tatiana Noël, Stéphane Pavao-Zuckerman, Barnet Stricker, Leah Teeter, Matt Welker, Martin Wilkoski, Jennifer Szpak, Paul Buckley, Michael |
author_sort |
Guiry, Eric |
title |
The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition |
title_short |
The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition |
title_full |
The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition |
title_fullStr |
The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition |
title_full_unstemmed |
The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition |
title_sort |
ratting of north america: a 350-year retrospective on rattus species compositions and competition |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adm6755 http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/11515 |
genre |
Rattus rattus |
genre_facet |
Rattus rattus |
op_source |
http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/11515 |
op_relation |
https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/11515/files/sciadv.adm6755.pdf https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/11515/files/sciadv.adm6755_sm.pdf doi:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adm6755 http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/11515 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adm6755 |
container_title |
Science Advances |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
14 |
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1809937286829178880 |