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Brown Rat
The brown rat (''Rattus norvegicus''), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Norwegian rat and Parisian rat, is a widespread species of common rat. One of the largest muroids, it is a brown or grey rodent with a head and body length of up to long, and a tail slightly shorter than that. It weighs between . Thought to have originated in northern China and neighbouring areas, this rodent has now spread to all continents except Antarctica, and is the dominant rat in Europe and much of North America. With rare exceptions, the brown rat lives wherever humans live, particularly in urban areas. Selective breeding of the brown rat has produced the fancy rat (rats kept as pets), as well as the laboratory rat (rats used as model organisms in biological research). Both fancy rats and laboratory rats are of the domesticated subspecies ''Rattus norvegicus domestica''. Studies of wild rats in New York City have shown that populations livi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Berkenhout
John Berkenhout (8 July 1726 – 3 April 1791) was an English physician, naturalist and miscellaneous writer. He was educated as a physician at Edinburgh and Leyden. While at Edinburgh he published a botanical lexicon ''Clavis Anglicae Linguae Botanicae''. He published several works on natural history, including ''Outlines of the Natural History of Great Britain and Ireland'' (1769) and ''Synopsis of the Natural History of Great Britain and Ireland'' (1789). He served as a British agent in the colonies during the American Revolution. Life Berkenhout was born about 1730 at Leeds, the son of John Berkenhout Snr, a Dutch merchant who had settled in Yorkshire, and Anne Kitchingman. He was educated at Leeds Grammar School. His father intended him for a commercial career, and sent him to Germany to study languages. After spending some years in Germany he accompanied some English noblemen on a tour through Europe. On returning to Berlin he stayed with his father's relative Baron de Bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
