OT--Rat question

[Caius Marcius]

No: HPFGUIDX 9306

--- In HPforGrownups at egroups.com, Amanda Lewanski <editor at t...> wrote:
> Caius Marcius wrote:
> 
> > BTW, Chapter 11 of Hans Zinnser's Rats, Lice and History (1935) 
is a
> > definitive exploration of the role that the rat has played in 
Western
> > history.  Apparently, the rat entered Europe in relatively recent
> > historical terms, perhaps as recently as 700 AD.
> 
> Which kind of rat? The brown, or the black? Does it say?

According to Zinnser, it was the black rat (Mus rattus) that first 
came to European civilization – in the Classical era, references to 
mice are common, but there are no clear mention of anything truly 
ratlike.  Authorities debate when they arrived, which might be 
anywhere between 400 AD and 1100 AD. In many early medieval 
chronicles the words for rats and mice were used interchangably 
(see "scientific" name above!). The first clear differentiation 
between them is made in the writings of Giraldus Cambrensis (1147-
1223 – doesn't that sound like the sort of thing you might pick up in 
Prof. Binns' class?)

What rats were doing before then is not clear.  Some speculate that 
they were living in the wilds, and for some reason quickly 
domesticated themselves. Once they  did decide to associate with us, 
they spread with alarming rapidity. 

Mus rattus was largely wiped out in Europe by the introduction of the 
Brown Rat (Mus decumanus, from Asia) in the early 18th Century.  The 
so-called Norwegian Rat (Mus Norvegicus, also from Asia) was 
introduced to Europe around the same time.

    - CMC