The black rat (Rattus rattus) is a common long-tailed rodent of the genus Rattus (rats) in the subfamily Murinae (murine rodents). The species originated in tropical Asia and spread through the Near East in Roman times before reaching Europe by the 1st century and spreading with Europeans across the world.
Read more about Black Rat: Taxonomy, Description, Origin of Rattus Rattus, Diet, Distribution and Habitat, Home Range, Behavior, Ecology, Predators and Parasites, Control Methods, Endangerment and Conservation
Famous quotes containing the words black and/or rat:
“why
Do our black faces search the empty sky?
Is there something we have forgotten? some precious thing
We have lost, wandering in strange lands?”
—Arna Bontemps (1902–1973)
“A rat eats, then leaves its droppings.”
—Hawaiian saying no. 85, ‘lelo No’Eau, collected, translated, and annotated by Mary Kawena Pukui, Bishop Museum Press, Hawaii (1983)