The evolutionary history of wild and domestic brown rats (Rattus norvegicus)

TY - JOUR

T1 - The evolutionary history of wild and domestic brown rats (Rattus norvegicus)

AU - Munshi-South, Jason

AU - Garcia, Joseph A

AU - Orton, David

AU - Phifer-Rixey, Megan

N1 - This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the University’s Research Publications and Open Access policy.

PY - 2024/9/19

Y1 - 2024/9/19

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Animals

KW - Rats

KW - Animals, Wild/genetics

KW - Biological Evolution

KW - Domestication

KW - Phylogeny

KW - Symbiosis

KW - Population

U2 - 10.1126/science.adp1166

DO - 10.1126/science.adp1166

M3 - Review article

C2 - 39298602

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 385

SP - 1292

EP - 1297

JO - Science (New York, N.Y.)

JF - Science (New York, N.Y.)

IS - 6715

ER -