AFRMA

American Fancy Rat & Mouse Association

This article is from the WSSF 2016 AFRMA Rat & Mouse Tales news-magazine.

Tidbit


Rat Fleas Exterminate Native Species

Did You Know?  Christmas Island would have native rats today if it weren’t for the fleas on the Black rats introduced to the island in 1899. These fleas carried a pathogen that wiped out all the native rats in less than a decade. While the Black rats were adapted to the protozoa Trypanosoma lewisi, the native rats weren’t, and by 1908 all the native species were extinct.

Article Death By Hyperdisease: How DNA Detective Work Explains Extinction Of Christmas Island’s Native Rats on ScienceDaily.


January 4, 2019