scholarly journals Palaeogenomic analysis of black rat (Rattus rattus) reveals multiple European introductions associated with human economic history

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
He Yu ◽  
Alexandra Jamieson ◽  
Ardern Hulme-Beaman ◽  
Chris J. Conroy ◽  
Becky Knight ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Economic History ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Rattus Rattus ◽  
Population History ◽  
Black Rat ◽  
Population Turnover ◽  
History Of ◽  
Climatic Cooling ◽  
Black Rats

AbstractThe distribution of the black rat (Rattus rattus) has been heavily influenced by its association with humans. The dispersal history of this non-native commensal rodent across Europe, however, remains poorly understood, and different introductions may have occurred during the Roman and medieval periods. Here, in order to reconstruct the population history of European black rats, we generated a de novo genome assembly of the black rat, 67 ancient black rat mitogenomes and 36 ancient nuclear genomes from sites spanning the 1st-17th centuries CE in Europe and North Africa. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA confirm that black rats were introduced into the Mediterranean and Europe from Southwest Asia. Genomic analyses of the ancient rats reveal a population turnover in temperate Europe between the 6th and 10th centuries CE, coincident with an archaeologically attested decline in the black rat population. The near disappearance and re-emergence of black rats in Europe may have been the result of the breakdown of the Roman Empire, the First Plague Pandemic, and/or post-Roman climatic cooling.

Studies in the Campanian ‘Villae Rusticae.’

1931 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Carrington
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Chronological Order ◽  
Half Century ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scanty Information ◽  
Materials Used

The remains of 39 villas have been discovered, up to the present, in the region which was covered by lapilli and ash during the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Twelve of these were excavated between the years 1749 and 1782, in the vicinity of Castellammare di Stabia; the rest have been excavated during the last half-century, either in the immediate neighbourhood of Pompeii or in the territory of the modern comuni adjoining it (Boscoreale, Scafati, Gragnano). A list of 36 of the villas arranged in the chronological order of their excavation is given in Rostovtzeff's Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire. Rostovtzeff concludes his note with the words ‘Useful work could be done by a scholar who would devote a little time and care to a study of the Campanian “villae rusticae,” and endeavour to investigate the history of the buildings.’ Unfortunately all of the villas were buried again after their excavation, and, in investigating the history of the buildings, we have only the scanty information furnished by the reports, which, often amounts to nothing at all. Inability to see the buildings, however, would not be such a great disadvantage if, at the time of the excavation, adequate records had been made of the building materials used, and the methods of their use.

Lucian as Social Satirist

1961 ◽  
Vol 11 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 199-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Baldwin
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Dio Chrysostom ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Practical Politics ◽  
Revolutionary Movements ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Actual Participation

This paper owes its inspiration to a remark made by Professor M. Rostovtzeff; in a note in his Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire on the widespread social unrest of the first two centuries A.D., having cited other literary authorities such as Dio Chrysostom, Aelius Aristides, etc., he writes: ‘The social problem as such, the cleavage between the poor and the rich, occupies a prominent place in the dialogues of Lucian; he was fully aware of the importance of the problem.’ No one, as far as I know, has attempted to collect and discuss the main passages in Lucian on this topic, and the latest writer on this aspect of Lucian reaches a conclusion quite opposed to Rostovtzeff and one which I believe to be wholly misleading. The aim of this paper is to collect and discuss the main references in Lucian to the social problem interpreting them in the light of Lucian's life and background, and the social and economic conditions of his age. In particular I shall stress the importance of the Cynic tradition as it bears on Lucian's attitude, but shall endeavour to show that this tradition is firmly rooted in practical politics and actual participation in social revolutionary movements and goes far beyond the repetition of mere ethical cliches generally ascribed to it.

The ecological impacts of commensal species: black rats, Rattus rattus, at the urban–bushland interface

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter B. Banks ◽  
Helen M. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Exotic Species ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Rattus Rattus ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Black Rat ◽  
Urban Impacts ◽  
Commensal Species ◽  
Commensal Rodents ◽  
Black Rats

Exotic species have had devastating impacts worldwide and are a major threat to native wildlife. Human commensal species (hereafter commensals) are a special class of exotic species that live largely off the resources associated with human activity. The encroachment of commensals from an urban area into surrounding bushland has been frequently overlooked as an important component of urban impacts, even though human-commensals are common to many urban regions globally. In this review, we present theoretical and empirical evidence for the processes and outcomes occurring when exotic commensal species encroach into native bushland. Specifically we ask when, how and why exotic commensal species encroach into bushland, what determines whether they establish, and what are the ecological consequences. We focus on the black rat, Rattus rattus, arguably the archetypal commensal species with a cosmopolitan distribution and the greatest potential for ecological damage of all the commensal rodents. We expect that the processes that we outline apply to other commensal species more broadly. We argue that commensals are in fact natives of the urban milieu and only become alien when they encroach into peri-urban bushland. We propose that the mechanisms of this encroachment will be different from those of other, non-commensal exotic species because urban areas act as dispersal hubs to overcome many of the barriers of invasion that other exotic species face. We suggest that resource supplementation by urban areas creates a great potential for promoting encroachment, invasion as well as impact. However, biotic and abiotic barriers to invasion are still relevant for commensals, highlighting the need to maintain the integrity of ecosystems and wildlife populations in urban edges so as to prevent commensal incursion. We examine how commensal black rats affect wildlife via three fundamental mechanisms, namely, predation, disease transfer and competition for resources, and also consider their possible positive impacts acting as functional replacements for lost natives. We conclude the review with an outline of research priorities and future directions that are essential for progressing our understanding of the ecology of commensal species.

Keeping Australia’s islands free of introduced rodents: the Barrow Island example

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penelope Greenslade ◽  
Andrew A Burbidge ◽  
A Jasmyn ◽  
J Lynch
Keyword(s):  
Rattus Rattus ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Processing Plant ◽  
Gas Processing ◽  
Black Rat ◽  
On This Island ◽  
Threatened Taxa ◽  
Eradication Costs ◽  
Economic Considerations ◽  
Black Rats

Islands are important reservoirs of endemic and threatened species, but anthropogenic influences have impacted their biotas. Australia has over 8000 islands, both continental and oceanic, but because of considerably increased traffic, both tourist and commercial, many of these islands have been and are subject to increased threats from invasive species. The invasive Black Rat Rattus rattus is of particular concern as it can negatively impact mammal, bird, reptile, invertebrate and plant populations. Barrow Island, in northwest Western Australia, is an island requiring particular protection from Black Rats as it is a Class A nature reserve with many unique and threatened taxa that is subject to major disturbances from activities associated with oil extraction and a large liquefied natural gas processing plant. Strict quarantine is currently imposed on all materials and persons being sent to the island and there is an intense on-island surveillance programme. So far the protocols used have prevented Black Rats establishing on this island, but such a level of biosecurity is clearly impossible for all islands. In this paper we discuss the effectiveness of quarantine inspections and surveillance together and alone in protecting high-risk, high-value Australian islands against introduced rodents and we document eradication costs for other islands. World-wide, it has only been possible so far to eradicate rats from relatively small islands, mostly with no non-target indigenous mammals and larger islands only where there are no non-target indigenous mammals. Models based largely on economic considerations have suggested it is more cost effective to use surveillance alone without quarantine for Black Rats on Barrow Island and that if rats become widespread (an estimated 4% risk), it may be more cost effective not to attempt eradication. Such models provide useful guidance for managers where biodiversity values are relatively low or where there are no non-target species, but for Barrow island we argue for continuation of quarantine as well as surveillance and an increased level of quarantine controls at the point of departure on all people, vessels and aircraft visiting other vulnerable Australian islands.

Lead pollution and the Roman economy

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 354-364
Author(s):  
Damian Pavlyshyn ◽  
Iain Johnstone ◽  
Richard Saller
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Roman Economy ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Institutional Frameworks ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Industrial Societies ◽  
Somatic Energy

More than a decade ago, the Oxford Roman Economy Project (OXREP)1 and the Cambridge economic history of the Greco-Roman world put the question of the performance of the Roman economy at the center of historical debate, prompting a flood of books and articles attempting to assess the degree of growth in the economy.2 The issue is of sufficient importance that it has figured in the narratives of economists analyzing the impact of institutional frameworks on the potential for growth.3 As the debate has continued, there has been some convergence: most historians would agree that there was some Smithian growth as evidenced by urbanization and trade, while acknowledging that production remained predominantly agricultural and based primarily on somatic energy (i.e., human and animal).4 This is, of course, a very broad framework that does not differentiate the Roman empire from other complex pre-industrial societies. The challenge is to refine the analysis in order to put content into the broad description of “modest though significant growth”5 and to offer a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the economy.

scholarly journals A survey of zoonotic pathogens carried by house mouse and black rat populations in Yucatan, Mexico

2017 ◽  
Vol 145 (11) ◽  
pp. 2287-2295 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. PANTI-MAY ◽  
R. R. C. DE ANDRADE ◽  
Y. GURUBEL-GONZÁLEZ ◽  
E. PALOMO-ARJONA ◽  
L. SODÁ-TAMAYO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
House Mouse ◽  
Neglected Tropical Diseases ◽  
Rat Kidney ◽  
Rattus Rattus ◽  
Hymenolepis Diminuta ◽  
House Mice ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Zoonotic Pathogens ◽  
Black Rat ◽  
Black Rats

SUMMARYThe house mouse (Mus musculus) and the black rat (Rattus rattus) are reservoir hosts for zoonotic pathogens, several of which cause neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Studies of the prevalence of these NTD-causing zoonotic pathogens, in house mice and black rats from tropical residential areas are scarce. Three hundred and two house mice and 161 black rats were trapped in 2013 from two urban neighbourhoods and a rural village in Yucatan, Mexico, and subsequently tested forTrypanosoma cruzi,Hymenolepis diminutaandLeptospira interrogans. Using the polymerase chain reaction we detectedT. cruziDNA in the hearts of 4·9% (8/165) and 6·2% (7/113) of house mice and black rats, respectively. We applied the sedimentation technique to detect eggs ofH. diminutain 0·5% (1/182) and 14·2% (15/106) of house mice and black rats, respectively. Through the immunofluorescent imprint method,L. interroganswas identified in 0·9% (1/106) of rat kidney impressions. Our results suggest that the black rat could be an important reservoir forT. cruziandH. diminutain the studied sites. Further studies examining seasonal and geographical patterns could increase our knowledge on the epidemiology of these pathogens in Mexico and the risk to public health posed by rodents.

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