Laboratory ratAlbino rats used in biomedical research are specially bred brown rats (Rattus norvegicus).
Brown rats are widely considered to be the first mammal domesticated for laboratory research. It was in 19th century Europe that brown rats were first used for research purposes; they were a suitable choice for research due to their abundance and negative reputation. Since then, laboratory rats have become integral to biomedical research. They differ in appearance from wild brown rats—laboratory rats are often albino, or white with red eyes—and in behavior, as laboratory rats are more docile than the wild brown rat.
Essential Guide To Rats In The San Francisco Bay Area
Rats are members of the rodent family and the genus Rattus. Currently, there are more than 60 species of rats around the world, and the most common is the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), also known as the Norway rat.
The countries where rats are on the menu
While rats are met with revulsion in most parts of the world, some communities put rodents pride of place on the dinner menu.
Before going to sleep, you ought to make sure no food is left forgotten somewhere on the floor or table. Otherwise, you may end up with some familiar and unwelcome guests: rats. Just a glimpse of a furry rodent is enough to inspire revulsion and complaints to authorities – for example, New York has recently renewed efforts to solve a ‘rat crisis’ in the city. But such guests are not despised everywhere. In fact, in some places around the world, rats are considered a delicious delicacy.
On 7 March every year, in a remote village in the hills of north-east India, the Adi tribe celebrates Unying-Aran, an unusual festival with rats as the culinary centrepiece. One of the Adi’s favourite dishes is a stew called bule-bulak oying, made with the rat’s stomach, intestines, liver, testes, foetuses, all boiled together with tails and legs plus some salt, chili and ginger.
Rodents of all kind are welcomed in this community, from the household rats often seen around the house to the wild species that dwell in the forest. The rat's tail and feet are particularly appreciated for their taste, says Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow, at Oulu University, Finland, who interviewed several members of the Adi tribe for a recent study into rats as a food resource.
Echimyidae Wikipedia Rats
Echimyidae is the family[2] of Neotropical spiny rats and their fossil relatives.[3] This is the most species-rich family of hystricognath rodents. It is probably also the most ecologically diverse, with members ranging from fully arboreal to terrestrial to fossorial to semiaquatic habits.[4] They presently exist mainly in South America; three members of the family also range into Central America, and the hutias are found in the West Indies in the Caribbean. Species of the extinct subfamily Heteropsomyinae formerly lived on Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico in the Antilles.
