The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition

Eric Guiry; Ryan Kennedy; David Orton; Philip Armitage; John Bratten; Charles Dagneau; Shannon Dawdy; Susan Defrance; Barry Gaulton; David Givens; Olivia Hall; Anne Laberge; Michael Lavin; Henry Miller; Mary f. Minkoff; Tatiana Niculescu; Stéphane Noël; Barnet Pavao-Zuckerman; Leah Stricker; Matt Teeter; Martin Welker; Jennifer Wilkoski; Paul Szpak; Michael Buckley

doi:10.1126/sciadv.adm6755

The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition

Eric Guiry, Ryan Kennedy, David Orton, Philip Armitage, John Bratten, Charles Dagneau, Shannon Dawdy, Susan Defrance, Barry Gaulton, David Givens, Olivia Hall, Anne Laberge, Michael Lavin, Henry Miller, Mary f. Minkoff, Tatiana Niculescu, Stéphane Noël, Barnet Pavao-Zuckerman, Leah Stricker, Matt TeeterMartin Welker, Jennifer Wilkoski, Paul Szpak, Michael Buckley

Earth and Environmental Sciences - Academic & Research

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

While the impacts of black (Rattus rattus) and brown (Rattus norvegicus) rats on human society are well documented—including the spread of disease, broad-scale environmental destruction, and billions spent annually on animal control—little is known about their ecology and behavior in urban areas due to the challenges of studying animals in city environments. We use isotopic and ZooMS analysis of archaeological (1550s–1900 CE) rat remains from eastern North America to provide a large-scale framework for species arrival, interspecific competition, and dietary ecology. Brown rats arrived earlier than expected and rapidly outcompeted black rats in coastal urban areas. This replacement happened despite evidence that the two species occupy different trophic positions. Findings include the earliest molecularly confirmed brown rat in the Americas and show a deep ecological structure to how rats exploit human-structured areas, with implications for understanding urban zoonosis, rat management, and ecosystem planning as well as broader themes of rat dispersal, phylogeny, evolutionary ecology, and climate impacts.

Original language	English
Journal	Science Advances
Volume	10
Issue number	14
Early online date	3 Apr 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adm6755
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 3 Apr 2024

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Evolutionary mechanisms and dynamics
Walton, C. (PI), Shultz, S. (PI), Sansom, R. (PI), Krasovec, R. (PI), Knight, C. (PI), Gilman, R. (PI), Gifford, D. (PI), Garwood, R. (PI), Brockhurst, M. (PI), Buckley, M. (PI), Sellers, W. (PI) & Jones, K. (PI)
1/08/16 → …
Project: Research
ICAL: Interdisciplinary Centre for Ancient Life
Garwood, R. (PI), Wogelius, R. (PI), Sansom, R. (PI), Buckley, M. (PI), Chamberlain, A. (CoI), Manning, P. (PI), Egerton, V. (CoI), Sellers, W. (PI), Nudds, J. (CoI), Bulot, L. G. (CoI), Brocklehurst, R. (PGR student), Brassey, C. A. (PI), Keating, J. (CoI), La Porta, A. (CoI), Brocklehurst, R. (PGR student), Callender-Crowe, L. (PGR student), Wallace, E. (PGR student), Chester, J. (PGR student), Davenport, J. (PGR student), Tuley, K. (PGR student), Lomax, D. (Researcher), Reeves, J. (PGR student), Smart, C. (PGR student), Ferro, C. (PGR student), Karoullas, C. (PGR student), Heath, J. (PGR student), Dickson, A. (PGR student), Austin Sydes, L. (PGR student), McLean, C. (PGR student), Harvey, V. (PGR student), Jones, K. (PI), Peacock, C. (PGR student), Gordon, P. (PGR student), Oldfield, E.-M. (PGR student), Webb, E. (PGR student), Roberts, F. (PGR student), Savage, H. (PGR student), Chester, J. (PGR student), Jepson, J. (Researcher), Keating, J. (Researcher) & Schwab, J. (Researcher)
Project: Research

Cite this

Guiry, E., Kennedy, R., Orton, D., Armitage, P., Bratten, J., Dagneau, C., Dawdy, S., Defrance, S., Gaulton, B., Givens, D., Hall, O., Laberge, A., Lavin, M., Miller, H., Minkoff, M. F., Niculescu, T., Noël, S., Pavao-Zuckerman, B., Stricker, L., ... Buckley, M. (2024). The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition. Science Advances, 10(14). Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adm6755

@article{357faef2b96a4765a7b9abd04433e10c,

title = "The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition",

abstract = "While the impacts of black (Rattus rattus) and brown (Rattus norvegicus) rats on human society are well documented—including the spread of disease, broad-scale environmental destruction, and billions spent annually on animal control—little is known about their ecology and behavior in urban areas due to the challenges of studying animals in city environments. We use isotopic and ZooMS analysis of archaeological (1550s–1900 CE) rat remains from eastern North America to provide a large-scale framework for species arrival, interspecific competition, and dietary ecology. Brown rats arrived earlier than expected and rapidly outcompeted black rats in coastal urban areas. This replacement happened despite evidence that the two species occupy different trophic positions. Findings include the earliest molecularly confirmed brown rat in the Americas and show a deep ecological structure to how rats exploit human-structured areas, with implications for understanding urban zoonosis, rat management, and ecosystem planning as well as broader themes of rat dispersal, phylogeny, evolutionary ecology, and climate impacts. ",

author = "Eric Guiry and Ryan Kennedy and David Orton and Philip Armitage and John Bratten and Charles Dagneau and Shannon Dawdy and Susan Defrance and Barry Gaulton and David Givens and Olivia Hall and Anne Laberge and Michael Lavin and Henry Miller and Minkoff, \{Mary f.\} and Tatiana Niculescu and St{\'e}phane No{\"e}l and Barnet Pavao-Zuckerman and Leah Stricker and Matt Teeter and Martin Welker and Jennifer Wilkoski and Paul Szpak and Michael Buckley",

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doi = "10.1126/sciadv.adm6755",

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Guiry, E, Kennedy, R, Orton, D, Armitage, P, Bratten, J, Dagneau, C, Dawdy, S, Defrance, S, Gaulton, B, Givens, D, Hall, O, Laberge, A, Lavin, M, Miller, H, Minkoff, MF, Niculescu, T, Noël, S, Pavao-Zuckerman, B, Stricker, L, Teeter, M, Welker, M, Wilkoski, J, Szpak, P & Buckley, M 2024, 'The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition', Science Advances, vol. 10, no. 14. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adm6755

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T1 - The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition

AU - Guiry, Eric

AU - Kennedy, Ryan

AU - Orton, David

AU - Armitage, Philip

AU - Bratten, John

AU - Dagneau, Charles

AU - Dawdy, Shannon

AU - Defrance, Susan

AU - Gaulton, Barry

AU - Givens, David

AU - Hall, Olivia

AU - Laberge, Anne

AU - Lavin, Michael

AU - Miller, Henry

AU - Minkoff, Mary f.

AU - Niculescu, Tatiana

AU - Noël, Stéphane

AU - Pavao-Zuckerman, Barnet

AU - Stricker, Leah

AU - Teeter, Matt

AU - Welker, Martin

AU - Wilkoski, Jennifer

AU - Szpak, Paul

AU - Buckley, Michael

PY - 2024/4/3

Y1 - 2024/4/3

N2 - While the impacts of black (Rattus rattus) and brown (Rattus norvegicus) rats on human society are well documented—including the spread of disease, broad-scale environmental destruction, and billions spent annually on animal control—little is known about their ecology and behavior in urban areas due to the challenges of studying animals in city environments. We use isotopic and ZooMS analysis of archaeological (1550s–1900 CE) rat remains from eastern North America to provide a large-scale framework for species arrival, interspecific competition, and dietary ecology. Brown rats arrived earlier than expected and rapidly outcompeted black rats in coastal urban areas. This replacement happened despite evidence that the two species occupy different trophic positions. Findings include the earliest molecularly confirmed brown rat in the Americas and show a deep ecological structure to how rats exploit human-structured areas, with implications for understanding urban zoonosis, rat management, and ecosystem planning as well as broader themes of rat dispersal, phylogeny, evolutionary ecology, and climate impacts.

AB - While the impacts of black (Rattus rattus) and brown (Rattus norvegicus) rats on human society are well documented—including the spread of disease, broad-scale environmental destruction, and billions spent annually on animal control—little is known about their ecology and behavior in urban areas due to the challenges of studying animals in city environments. We use isotopic and ZooMS analysis of archaeological (1550s–1900 CE) rat remains from eastern North America to provide a large-scale framework for species arrival, interspecific competition, and dietary ecology. Brown rats arrived earlier than expected and rapidly outcompeted black rats in coastal urban areas. This replacement happened despite evidence that the two species occupy different trophic positions. Findings include the earliest molecularly confirmed brown rat in the Americas and show a deep ecological structure to how rats exploit human-structured areas, with implications for understanding urban zoonosis, rat management, and ecosystem planning as well as broader themes of rat dispersal, phylogeny, evolutionary ecology, and climate impacts.

U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.adm6755

DO - 10.1126/sciadv.adm6755

M3 - Article

SN - 2375-2548

VL - 10

JO - Science Advances

JF - Science Advances

IS - 14

ER -

The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition

Abstract

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Evolutionary mechanisms and dynamics

ICAL: Interdisciplinary Centre for Ancient Life

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