title: Multiple geographic origins of commensalism and complex dispersal history of Black Rats.
abstract: The Black Rat (Rattus rattus) spread out of Asia to become one of the world's worst agricultural and urban pests, and a reservoir or vector of numerous zoonotic diseases, including the devastating plague. Despite the global scale and inestimable cost of their impacts on both human livelihoods and natural ecosystems, little is known of the global genetic diversity of Black Rats, the timing and directions of their historical dispersals, and the risks associated with contemporary movements. We surveyed mitochondrial DNA of Black Rats collected across their global range as a first step towards obtaining an historical genetic perspective on this socioeconomically important group of rodents. We found a strong phylogeographic pattern with well-differentiated lineages of Black Rats native to South Asia, the Himalayan region, southern Indochina, and northern Indochina to East Asia, and a diversification that probably commenced in the early Middle Pleistocene. We also identified two other currently recognised species of Rattus as potential derivatives of a paraphyletic R. rattus. Three of the four phylogenetic lineage units within R. rattus show clear genetic signatures of major population expansion in prehistoric times, and the distribution of particular haplogroups mirrors archaeologically and historically documented patterns of human dispersal and trade. Commensalism clearly arose multiple times in R. rattus and in widely separated geographic regions, and this may account for apparent regionalism in their associated pathogens. Our findings represent an important step towards deeper understanding the complex and influential relationship that has developed between Black Rats and humans, and invite a thorough re-examination of host-pathogen associations among Black Rats.
authors.affiliation: Australian National Wildlife Collection, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Canberra, Australia. aplin.ken@gmail.com
authors.forename: Ken P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Aplin
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Alejandro A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Chinen
authors.forename: R Terry
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Chesser
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ten Have
authors.forename: Stephen C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Donnellan
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frost
authors.forename: Jean Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Herbreteau
authors.forename: Francois
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Catzeflis
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Soubrier
authors.forename: Yin-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Robins
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Matisoo-Smith
authors.forename: Amanda D S
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Bastos
authors.forename: Ibnu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Maryanto
authors.forename: Martua H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Sinaga
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Denys
authors.forename: Ronald A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Van Den Bussche
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Conroy
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004199:Disease Vectors; D017753:Ecosystem; D005843:Geography; D010802:Phylogeny; D051381:Rats
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