New York City rats have genetically distinct neighborhoods

I presume New York rats are Brown Rats.(rattus norvegicus) rather than Black or Ship rats (rattus rattus). I only ask because it suggests they originally came there from Europe by ship, and the usual Rat found on the old ships was the Black Rat, not the Brown.
 
Brown rats were also found on ships. How else would they have gotten to New York? Even if black rats were more common on ships (and I can't speak to that), it only takes one shipload to get them established.

But yes, the article explicitly says they're brown rats.

And on another note, I just realized that the Swedish Linnaeus named brown rats after Norway.
 
Pertinax said:
I presume New York rats are Brown Rats.(rattus norvegicus) rather than Black or Ship rats (rattus rattus). I only ask because it suggests they originally came there from Europe by ship, and the usual Rat found on the old ships was the Black Rat, not the Brown.
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New York's rat population is dominated by Brown Rats (the Black Rats were apparently also common in the city until the mid-1900s but now are rare).

From historical records (including extinction patterns in New Zealand) there seems to have been a worldwide change from Brown Rats on ships to Black Rats in the mid-1800s. This may have been a consequence of steam-ships replacing sailing ships (the former are warmer than the latter, and Black Rats are less tolerant of cold).
 
During my visit to the Bronx Zoo in July I believe I saw a wild black rat. It was in the anteater enclosure.

Thanks for the interesting read, David.
 
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