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Rats and humans have lived together for thousands of years. However, written historical records of rats migrating alongside people are sparse and some are entangled with myth and folklore.

Researchers at Drexel University, who are working to gain a better understanding of the evolutionary history of wild and domestic brown rats (Rattus norvegicus), recently presented a review of research on domestication events and genomic studies in the journal Science. The piece brings together findings about how rats moved from one place to another, particularly in association with humans.

Led by Jason Munshi-South, Ph.D., Betz Chair and professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, researchers scoured written records, archaeological remains and genomic data to bring together what we know about the evolutionary history of rats.

"We're trying to understand how rats travel with humans and how, along the way, they have changed because of the types of environments humans have created," said Munshi-South.

Using recent discoveries about the evolutionary history of brown rats and advances in zooarchaeology and population genomics, the research team anticipates new inquiries in the field will help to answer questions about the evolution of human migrations, trade corridors and economies of various societies—using rats as a proxy to understand what humans were doing in various places and times throughout history.

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