Journal article
The evolutionary history of wild and domestic brown rats (Rattus norvegicus)
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), v 385(6715), pp 1292-1297
20 Sep 2024
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Abstract
The brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) occupies nearly every terrestrial habitat with a human presence and is one of our most important model organisms. Despite this prevalence, gaps remain in understanding the evolution of brown rat commensalism, their global dispersal, and mechanisms underlying contemporary adaptations to diverse environments. In this Review, we explore recent advances in the evolutionary history of brown rats and discuss key challenges, including finding and accurately dating historical specimens, disentangling histories of multiple domestication events, and synthesizing functional variation in wild rat populations with the development of laboratory strains. Advances in zooarchaeology and population genomics will usher in a new golden age of research on the evolutionary biology of brown rats, with positive feedbacks on their use as biomedical models.The brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) occupies nearly every terrestrial habitat with a human presence and is one of our most important model organisms. Despite this prevalence, gaps remain in understanding the evolution of brown rat commensalism, their global dispersal, and mechanisms underlying contemporary adaptations to diverse environments. In this Review, we explore recent advances in the evolutionary history of brown rats and discuss key challenges, including finding and accurately dating historical specimens, disentangling histories of multiple domestication events, and synthesizing functional variation in wild rat populations with the development of laboratory strains. Advances in zooarchaeology and population genomics will usher in a new golden age of research on the evolutionary biology of brown rats, with positive feedbacks on their use as biomedical models.
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Details
- Title
- The evolutionary history of wild and domestic brown rats (Rattus norvegicus)
- Creators
- Jason Munshi-SouthJoseph A GarciaDavid OrtonMegan Phifer-Rixey
- Publication Details
- Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), v 385(6715), pp 1292-1297
- Publisher
- AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE; WASHINGTON
- Number of pages
- 6
- Grant note
- National Science Foundation: NSF - BCS 2130598, DEB 1840663 Department of Veterans Affairs: I01 BX000446, I21 BX006263 National Institutes of Health: 2R01HL093096 Wellcome: 209817/Z/17/Z NSF: DEB2332998
Work by J.M.-S. was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF - BCS 2130598 and DEB 1840663). J.A.G. was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs (I01 BX000446,I21 BX006263), National Institutes of Health (2R01HL093096),and Mathers Foundation. D.O.'s contribution was funded by Wellcome (209817/Z/17/Z) and UKRI (Frontier Research Guarantee project RATTUS). M.P.-R. was supported by NSF DEB2332998.
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES); Biology
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001316243200007
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85204511627
- Other Identifier
- 991021904445204721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Genetics & Heredity