December 4, 2017 by Bob Yirka report
(Phys.org)—A small team of researchers from
Fordham University and Providence College, both in the U.S., has found that
there are small but discernible genetic differences between rats living uptown
versus downtown on the island of Manhattan. In their paper published in the
journal Molecular Ecology, the group describes trapping rats from one end
of the island to the other, conducting genetic tests on them and outlining what
they found.
New York City, like other major
cities in the world, hosts a very large population of rats—in this case, mostly brown rats. Most people that live
there find them to be a problem, because in addition to being destructive and
carriers of disease, they are also considered to be disgusting. In this new
effort, the researchers sought to learn more about the rats that live only on
Manhattan Island, noting that little work has been done to understand the rats
that live there.
The study consisted of trapping
rats, moving north to south on the island, cutting off their tails, and using
them as a source for DNA analysis—and then comparing the genomic results by
geography.
The researchers report that the
vast majority of the rats were descendants of rats from western Europe—brought
over on ships over 200 years ago. But the analysis also revealed that the rats
have been in the area long enough to have developed minor genetic differences
depending on where they lived. This, the team notes, was not particularly
surprising due to rat behavior—they rarely stray far from home. Nor was it
surprising to see differences between the uptown and downtown rats—the two
areas are separated by the commercial district, which is not particularly
favorable to rats. Thus, those that live uptown have little incentive to move
downtown, or vice-versa. Surprisingly, the analysis showed that there were even
slight differences between neighborhoods—each had their own distinct rats. The
researchers could tell, for example, by looking at an individual rat profile,
if it had resided in the East or West Village.
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