Genealogical studies have exploded over the past 10 years or so, and it seems that you can look for correlations everywhere. Well, that’s what happens when you open the floodgates and the data comes crashing through. So, a new study has analyzed the mitochondrial DNA in the black rat, Rattus rattus, to trace its genetic links and origins, and thereby trace where in the world the six different lineages originated and how they spread out geographically in time. They then compared the episodes of expansion in these lineages with those found in human population dispersal, and found a positive correlation.

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Tags: 'Mitochondrial DNA', 'Rattus rattus', DNA, genes, genetics, human, rats

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