The genus Rattus is highly speciose, the taxonomy is complex, and individuals are often difficult to identify to the species level. Previous studies have demonstrated the usefulness of phylogenetic approaches to identification in Rattus but some species, especially among the endemics of the New Guinean region, showed poor resolution. Possible reasons for this are simple misidentification, incom...

The reciprocal exchange of goods and services among social partners is a conundrum in evolutionary biology because of its proneness to cheating, but also the behavioral and cognitive mechanisms involved in such mutual cooperation are hotly debated. Extreme viewpoints range from the assumption that, at the proximate level, observed cases of "direct reciprocity" can be merely explained by basic i...

Invasive rodent species have established on 80% of the world's islands causing significant damage to island environments. Insular ecosystems support proportionally more biodiversity than comparative mainland areas, highlighting them as critical for global biodiversity conservation. Few techniques currently exist to adequately detect, with high confidence, species that are trap-adverse such as t...

Europa and Juan-de-Nova are two little coral islands in the Mozambique Channel. They are only occupied by a troop detachment of 15 men, who exercise the French sovereignty and maintain the island. During these activities, the men work in dampness and they can encounter rats. The aim of this survey is to show presence of leptospirosis in these islands by testing rat kidney by specific PCR. The r...

Present study was based on a parasitic survey of captured domestic rat (Rattus rattus) at five selected study sites including, Gampaha, Dalugama, Kadawatha, Sedawatte-Bloemandhal and Wattala,of the Western Province, Sri Lanka. Study also included examination of enteric parasite stages in fresh fecal samples of residents, domestic cats and dogs of the Sedawatte-Bloemandhal, a shanty area. Result...

This study is to detect the presence of Orientia tsutsugamushi in chiggers and host target organs of scrub typhus such as liver, spleen as well as blood. Nine locations of Peninsular Malaysia were chosen; Slim River, Perak; Janda Baik, Pahang; Seremban, Negeri Sembilan; Hulu Langat, Selangor; Raub, Pahang; Bukit Panchor, Pulau Pinang; Gunung Inas, and Ulu Sedim, Kedah and Setiu, Terengganu. Col...

Involving pericentric inversion, Robertsonian fusion and B-chromosomes , the black rat, Rattus rattus, is highly polymorphic. The polymorphism is also remarka ble by a variation of heterochromatic C-bands. R. rattus tanezumi, which is one of several subspecies of the black rats and distributes through Japan, is outstanding by polymorphism for the presence or absence of the C-bands (Yosida and S...

Food neophobia is a reaction to novel food observed in many animal species, particularly omnivores, including Rattus norvegicus. A neophobic reaction is typically characterised by avoidance of novel food and the necessity to assess both its potential value and toxicity by the animal. It has been hypothesised that this reaction is not observed in rats inhabiting a changeable environment with a h...

BACKGROUND The species of ectoparasites that live on a specific host in a geographical region form an ectoparasite community. Species abundance distributions describe the number of individuals observed for each different species that is encountered within a community. Based on properties of the species abundance distribution, the expected total number of species present in the community can be ...