Wikipedia
This is an article about wild rats; for pet rats, see fancy rat''pink name = Rats
Fossil Range: Early Pleistocene - Recent caption = Black Rat (''Rattus rattus'') pink Animalia Chordata Mammalia Rodentia Muroidea* Muridae Murinae ''Rattus''
Johann Fischer von WaldheimFischer de Waldheim date = 1803 Taxobox_end_placement pink plural_taxon = Species 50 species; see !text
*& lt;/nowiki>Several? subfamilies of Muroids
include animals called rats.Taxobox_end A rat is any of about 56 different species of small, nearly omnivorous rodent belonging to the genus ''Rattus''. The most well-known species 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 their relatives the mousemice, but seldom weigh over 500 grams. The common 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, the Bandicoot Rat ''Bandicota bengalensis'', and a number of others.In Western countries, many people keep domesticated rats as pets. These are of the species ''Rattus norvegicus'', which originated in the grasslands of China and spread to Europe and eventually, in 1775, to the New World. Pet rats are descendants of Brown Rats bred for research, and may be called "fancy rats". But they are the same species as the common city "sewer" rat. Domesticated rats tend to be both more docile than their wild ancestors and more disease prone, presumably due to inbreeding.Rats have a significant impact on food production. Estimates vary, but it is likely that anything between 1/5 and a 1/3 of the world's total output is eaten, spoiled or destroyed by rats and other rodents. These common species are opportunistic survivors and often live with and near humans. The Black Plague is traditionally believed to have been caused by the micro-organism ''Yersinia pestis'', carried by the rat flea ''Xenopsilia cheopis'' which preyed on ''Rattus rattus'' living in European cities of the day; it is notable that these rats were also victims themselves. It should perhaps also be noted that it has recently been suggested that neither rats nor infected fleas would have spread fast enough through Europe to have been a likely culprit. Regardless, rats are frequently blamed for damaging food supplies and other goods. Their reputation has carried into common parlance: in the English language, "rat" is an insult and "to rat on someone" is to betray them by denouncing a crime or misdeed they committed to the authorities. While modern wild rats can carry Leptospirosis and some other "zoonotic" conditions (those which can be transferred across species, to humans, for example), these conditions are in fact rarely found. Wild rats living in good environments are typically healthy and robust animals. Wild rats living in cities may suffer themselves from poor diet and internal parasites but do not largely spread disease to humans.The rat makes a fine pet, known for its intelligence, playfulness and sociality. They are extremely clean and have an excellent sense of humor. As with any pet, it is best to seek a rat from a professional breeder rather than a pet store.
Rats in the laboratory - Like mousemice, rats (especially albinismalbino ''Rattus norvegicus'') are frequently subjects of medical, psychological and other biological experiments. This is only partially due to their rapid growth to sexual maturity and because they are easily kept and bred in captivity. Rats are, in fact, socially, behaviorally, and in many ways physiologically similar to humans. Scientists have bred many strains or "linear animallines" of rats specifically for experimentation. However, these lines are generally not genetically modified organismtransgenic because the easy techniques of transformation (genetics)genetic transformation that work in mice do not work in rats. This has frustrated many investigators, who regard many aspects of behavior and physiology in rats as more relevant to humans and easier to observe than in mice, but who wish to trace their observations to underlying genes. As a result, many researchers have been forced to study questions in mice that might be better pursued in rats. In October 2003, however, researchers succeeded in clonecloning two laboratory rats by the problematic technique of somatic cell nuclear transfernuclear transfer. This may lead to more rats being used as geneticsgenetic research subjects
Rats in culture - In imperial Chinese culture, the rat (sometimes referred to as a mouse) is the first of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. Consequently every twelfth year is known as a "year of the rat" in the Chinese calendar. People born in such years are expected to possess qualities associated with rats. These include creativity, honesty, generosity, ambition, a quick temper and wastefulness. "Rats" (i.e. 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."The stereotypes associated with rats in Western civilization are less complimentary. Rats are seen as vicious, unclean, parasitic animals that steal food and spread disease. In one particularly infamous example, ravenous rats are used as a torture device in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. When anthropomorphized, rats are usually depicted as selfish, crude and untrustworthy, with the characters of ''The Secret of NIMH'', ''Ratz (television series)Ratz'', and Terry Pratchett's ''The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents'' being the major exceptions. Describing a person as "rat-like" usually implies they are unattractive and suspicious. By contrast, mice are stereotyped as cute and bourgeoisiebourgeois.On the Isle of Man it is extreme bad luck to say the word ''rat''; even today many people may be shocked, and indeed offended upon its utterance. Local alternatives include longtail, joey, queerfella, ringie and the Manx Gaelic word; roddan. In recent times, many young people have converted to saying "r-a-t", owing to the influence of British immigrants.
The Super Rat - In 1969, scientists claimed that many Rats had evolved into Super-rats.These new Rats are very resistant to Rat poisons, and allow the eldest Rat to eat first, and die first, in case the food is poisoned.
See also - Rat-catcher Rat (Ned's Atomic Dustbin), a band member of Ned's Atomic Dustbin Rat (Zodiac) Rat Park Ratt a metal band Desert Rats Rats of Tobruk List of fictional mice and rats ''Willard (1971 film)Willard'' (1971 original film) ''Willard (2003 movie)Willard'' (2003 remake) ''Fear Factor''
Taxonomy of ''Rattus'' - The genus ''Rattus'' is a member of the giant subfamily Murinae. There are several other murine genera that are sometimes considered part of ''Rattus''. These are: ''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 56 species. A subgeneric breakdown of the species has been proposed, but does not include all species. The five groups are:''norvegicus'' group''rattus'' groupAustralian nativesNew Guinea natives''xanthurus'' groupThe following list is alphabetical.
Species of Rats - Genus ''Rattus''*''Rattus adustus''*''Rattus annandalei''*''Rattus argentiventer''*''Rattus baluensis''*''Rattus bontanus''*''Rattus burrus''*''Rattus colletti''*''Rattus elaphinus''*''Rattus enganus''*''Rattus everetti''*''Rattus exulans''*''Rattus feliceus''*''Rattus foramineus''*''Rattus fuscipes''*''Rattus giluwensis''*''Rattus hainaldi''*''Rattus hoffmani''*''Rattus hoogerwerfi''*''Rattus jobiensis''*''Rattus koopmani''*''Rattus korinchi''*''Rattus leucopus''*''Rattus losea''*''Rattus lugens''*''Rattus lutreolus''*''Rattus macleari''*''Rattus marmosurus''*''Rattus mindorensis''*''Rattus mollicomulus''*''Rattus montanus''*''Rattus mordax''*''Rattus morotaiensis''*''Rattus nativitatis''*''Rattus nitidus''*''Rattus norvegicus''*''Rattus novaeguineae''*''Rattus osgoodi''*''Rattus palmarum''*''Rattus pelurus''*''Rattus praetor''*''Rattus ranjiniae''*''Rattus rattus''*''Rattus sanila''*''Rattus sikkimensis''*''Rattus simalurensis''*''Rattus sordidus''*''Rattus steini''*''Rattus stoicus''*''Rattus tanezumi''*''Rattus tawitawiensis''*''Rattus timorensis''*''Rattus tiomanicus''*''Rattus tunneyi''*''Rattus turkestanicus''*''Rattus villosissimus''*''Rattus xanthurus''
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