Spread of black rats was linked to human historical events

The Black Rat ( Rattus rattus ) is one of the most common of the world's 56 Rattus species, and is also known as the house, roof or ship rat. It is found throughout Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Americas. © division, CSIRO The Black Rat ( Rattus rattus ) is one of the most common of the world's 56 Rattus species, and is also known as the house, roof or ship rat. It is found throughout Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Americas. © division, CSIRO - New research reveals how the black rat colonised Europe in the Roman and Medieval periods New ancient DNA analysis has shed light on how the black rat, blamed for spreading Black Death, dispersed across Europe - revealing that the rodent colonised the continent on two occasions in the Roman and Medieval periods. The study, led by the University of York along with the University of Oxford and the Max Planck Institutes for the Science of Human History (Jena) and Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig), is the first ancient genetic study of the species, also known as the ship rat. The black rat ( Rattus rattus ) is one of three rodent species, along with the house mouse ( Mus musculus ) and brown rat ( Rattus norvegicus ), to have become globally distributed as a result of its ability to live around human habitations by taking advantage of food and transportation.