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Rat

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50 species

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.

For more information about Rat, read the full article at Wikipedia.
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News tagged with rats

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Novelty lures rats from cocaine-paired settings, hinting at new treatments for recovering addicts

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Feb 01, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The brain's innate interest in the new and different may help trump the power of addictive drugs, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. In controlled experiments, novelty drew cocaine-treated ...


Study sees little dust risk for subway workers

Study sees little dust risk for subway workers

Medicine & Health / Health

created Jan 12, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

New York subway commuters may worry more about rats and rising fares than dust floating through the system, but for the workers who spend their whole shift below ground, air quality has long been a concern. ...


New stroke therapy successful in rats

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Jan 12, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

People with impaired mobility after a stroke soon may have a therapy that restores limb function long after the injury, if a supplemental protein works as well in humans as it does in paralyzed rats.


New hope for therapy in heartburn-related cancer

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Jan 12, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A new study published in the journal Disease Models and Mechanisms shows that DBZ, a drug currently in clinical trials for use in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, is able in rats to stop the growth of Barrett's esophagus, ...


Study Finds Treatment With Anabolic Hormone May Enhance Local Bone Regeneration

Study Finds Treatment With Anabolic Hormone May Enhance Local Bone Regeneration

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- In research that could open new avenues of investigation in the prevention and treatment of fractures, in bone regeneration and tissue engineering, scientists from Yale School of Medicine ...


Got smell? Research shows that accurate taste perception relies on a functioning olfactory system

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0

As anyone suffering through a head cold knows, food tastes wrong when the nose is clogged, an experience that leads many to conclude that the sense of taste operates normally only when the olfactory system is also in good ...


baby walking

Why newborn babies can't walk

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Dec 18, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (13) | comments 16 weblog

(PhysOrg.com) -- The first steps of an infant is a real milestone in the development of all mammals including humans, but little is known about why some animals can walk soon after birth, while others need ...


Exposure to young triggers new neuron creation in females exhibiting maternal behavior

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Maternal behavior itself can trigger the development of new neurons in the maternal brain independent of whether the female was pregnant or has nursed, according to a study released by researchers at Tufts University's Cummings ...


Nerve-cell transplants help brain-damaged rats fully recover lost ability to learn

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Dec 09, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 1

Nerve cells transplanted into brain-damaged rats helped them to fully recover their ability to learn and remember, probably by promoting nurturing, protective growth factors, according to a new study.


Rodent smoke screen

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Rats passively exposed to tobacco smoke become dependent on nicotine, according to a new study by Dr. Adrie Bruijnzeel and colleagues from the University of Florida in the US. Their findings of how rats' brains respond to ...


In cancer-ridden rats, loneliness can kill

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Socially isolated female rats develop more tumors -- and tumors of a more deadly type -- than rats living in a social group, according to researchers at Yale University and the University of Chicago.


UCSB, UCL scientists rescue visual function in rats using induced pluripotent stem cells

Scientists rescue visual function in rats using induced pluripotent stem cells

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

An international team of scientists has rescued visual function in laboratory rats with eye disease by using cells similar to stem cells. The research shows the potential for stem cell-based therapies to treat ...


Researchers create first transgenic prairie voles

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, have successfully generated the first transgenic prairie voles, an important step toward unlocking the genetic secrets of pair bonding. The future ...


CPR is successful without mouth-to-mouth, but not without oxygen

Medicine & Health / Other

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0

People can survive cardiac arrest if they receive only chest compressions during attempts to revive them - as advised by the current American Heart Association guidelines. But they cannot survive without access to oxygen ...


A biology whodunnit: are rodents helping protect trees from fire?

A biology whodunnit: are rodents helping protect trees from fire?

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

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 ...