Rat
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Stenomys Thomas, 1910
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus. Many members of other rodent genera and families are also called rats and share many characteristics with true rats.
Rats are typically distinguished from mice by their size; rats are generally large muroid rodents, while mice are generally small muroid rodents. The muroid family is very large and complex, and the common terms rat and mouse are not taxonomically specific. Generally, when someone discovers a large muroid, its common name includes the term rat, while if it is small, the name includes the term mouse - scientifically, the terms are not confined to members of the Rattus and Mus genera. Compare the taxonomic classification of the Pack rat and Cotton mouse.
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News tagged with rats
A biology whodunnit: are rodents helping protect trees from fire?
Nov 12, 2009 |
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Tom Parker has made an unusual find. In California forests and shrubland that burned in 2008, he has spotted Manzanita seedlings sprouting in tight clusters, suggesting that the young shrubs emerged from underground ...
To make memories, new neurons must erase older ones
Nov 12, 2009 |
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Short-term memory may depend in a surprising way on the ability of newly formed neurons to erase older connections. That's the conclusion of a report in the November 13th issue of the journal Cell that provid ...
Bush rats fight back
Nov 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Sydney's native bush rats were unintended victims of a campaign to exterminate foreign black rats during a plague epidemic in 1900, according to new research by scientists who plan to reintroduce ...
Stem cells restore mobility in neck-injured rats (w/ Video)
Nov 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The first human embryonic stem cell treatment approved by the FDA for human testing has been shown to restore limb function in rats with neck spinal cord injuries - a finding that could expand the clinical ...
Spread of Western Juniper Seeds Studied
Nov 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Aromatic, evergreen foliage and plump, dusty-blue to nearly purple berries make western juniper appealing, whether it's a small shrub or a lofty tree. The trouble is, during the past 100 years ...
Mobile microscopes illuminate the brain
Nov 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- By building a tiny microscope small enough to be carried around on a rats' head, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany, have found a way to ...
Plague on their house, but bush rats fight back
Nov 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Sydney's native bush rats were unintended victims of a campaign to exterminate foreign black rats during a plague epidemic in 1900, according to new research by scientists who plan to reintroduce ...
Scientists discover gene that 'cancer-proofs' rodent's cells
Oct 26, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Despite a 30-year lifespan that gives ample time for cells to grow cancerous, a small rodent species called a naked mole rat has never been found with tumors of any kind—and now biologists ...
Changes in brain chemicals mark shifts in infant learning
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 26, 2009 |
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When do you first leave the nest? Early in development infants of many species experience important transitions—such as learning when to leave the protective presence of their mother to start exploring the wider world. Neuroscientists ...
'American Diet' v. Atkins Diet
Oct 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- If people can learn anything from rats, what to eat might be one of the most useful lessons. University of South Florida Professor David Diamond, in the Departments of Psychology, Molecular ...
Smart rat 'Hobbie-J' produced by over-expressing a gene that helps brain cells communicate
Oct 19, 2009 |
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Over-expressing a gene that lets brain cells communicate just a fraction of a second longer makes a smarter rat, report researchers from the Medical College of Georgia and East China Normal University.
Will giving coffee to babies keep them awake as adults?
Oct 08, 2009 |
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An F1000 evaluation looks at a Canadian study on how giving caffeine to newborn rats has a long-lasting and detrimental effect on sleep and breathing in adulthood.
Adolescent alcohol expsoure may lead to long-term risky decision making
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Sep 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Picture this. A bunch of adolescent rats walk into a bar and start consuming Jell-O shots. Lots of them.
Scientists make paralyzed rats walk again after spinal-cord injury
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Sep 20, 2009 |
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UCLA researchers have discovered that a combination of drugs, electrical stimulation and regular exercise can enable paralyzed rats to walk and even run again while supporting their full weight on a treadmill.
Robotics desert test provides NASA with new set of wheels for moon
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Every year, for two weeks in the Arizona desert at Black Point Lava Flow, NASA's Desert Research and Technology Studies group (Desert RATS) conducts technology development tests in anticipation ...
