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Noble savages: human-independent Rattus rats in Japan
Journal of Natural History ( IF 0.8 ) Pub Date : 2021-03-11 , DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2020.1845409
Vladimir Dinets 1, 2 , Keishu Asada 1
Affiliation  

ABSTRACT

Brown (Rattus norvegicus) and black (R. rattus sensu lato) rats are among the world’s most widespread and important invasive animals; however, there are very few studies of their natural history in natural habitats within their native ranges. Both taxa are native to Japan and still occur in natural habitats there, but have been traditionally treated by zoologists working in the country as invasive pests limited to cities and agricultural lands. We used thermal imaging and snow tracking to conduct the first study of status, distribution and behavioural ecology of remnant human-independent populations of these species in Japan. We found both species still living in natural habitats away from human settlements: brown rat is a rare species in wetlands on the main islands and in upland forests on Hokkaido, while the native taxon of R. rattus species complex, the Asian house rat (R. tanezumi sensu stricto) inhabits remnant deciduous old-growth forests, as well as evergreen subtropical forests, in the south of the country. Such knowledge is critically important for understanding the rats’ evolutionary history, invasion biology and behaviour. Future molecular studies should aim to clarify the origin of these populations: possibly they are Pleistocene relicts threatened by hybridisation with rats of related non-native taxa.



中文翻译:

高尚的野蛮人:日本的非人类依赖的Rattus大鼠

摘要

棕色(Rattus norvegicus)和黑色(R. rattussensu lato)大鼠是世界上分布最广,最重要的入侵动物之一;然而,很少有关于它们在自然范围内自然栖息地中自然历史的研究。这两个分类单元都是日本本土的,并且仍然存在于日本的自然栖息地中,但是传统上已经由在该国工作的动物学家将其视为仅限于城市和农田的入侵害虫。我们使用热成像和降雪追踪技术对日本这些物种的残存人类独立种群的状态,分布和行为生态进行了首次研究。我们发现这两种物种仍生活在远离人类住区的自然栖息地中:褐鼠是主要岛屿湿地和北海道高地森林中的稀有物种,而鼠尾草的本地分类群亚洲室内鼠(R. tanezumi sensu stricto)是一种复杂的物种,栖息在该国南部的落叶落叶老林和常绿亚热带森林中。这些知识对于了解大鼠的进化史,侵袭生物学和行为至关重要。未来的分子研究应旨在阐明这些种群的起源:可能是与相关非天然类群的大鼠杂交威胁的更新世遗迹。

更新日期:2021-04-01
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