Rat: How the World's Most Notorious Rodent Clawed Its Way to the Top

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Nature, Animals, Mammals, History
Cover of the book Rat: How the World's Most Notorious Rodent Clawed Its Way to the Top by Jerry Langton, St. Martin's Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jerry Langton ISBN: 9781466872028
Publisher: St. Martin's Press Publication: May 20, 2014
Imprint: St. Martin's Press Language: English
Author: Jerry Langton
ISBN: 9781466872028
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication: May 20, 2014
Imprint: St. Martin's Press
Language: English

From its origins in the swamps of Southeast Asia to its role in the medieval Black Death to its unshakeable niche in modern urban centers, the rat has incredible evolutionary advantages. Combining biology with history, and social commentary with firsthand experience, Rat dispels the myths and exposes the little-known facts about the ubiquitous rodent.

Plague carrier, city vermin, and an out-and-out menace to modern man, the rat, like death and taxes, is a certain fixture in humankind's history. Rats are found in virtually every nook and cranny of the globe and their numbers are ever increasing. Rats are always adapting and they seem to outwit any attempts by humans to wipe them out. What makes the rat such a worthy adversary and how has it risen to the top of the animal kingdom?

• Rats have been discovered living in meat lockers. The rats in there simply grew longer hair, fatter bodies, and nested in the carcasses they fed upon.
• A female rat can, under good conditions, have well over 100,000 babies in her lifetime.
• A rat can fall fifty feet onto pavement and skitter away unharmed.
• A rat's jaws can exert a force more than twenty times as powerful as a human's.
• The front side of a rat's incisors are as hard as some grades of steel.

In Rat: How the World's Most Notorious Rodent Clawed Its Way to the Top, Jerry Langton explores the history, myth, physiology, habits, and psyche of the rat and even speculates on the future of the rat and how they might evolve over the next few hundred years.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

From its origins in the swamps of Southeast Asia to its role in the medieval Black Death to its unshakeable niche in modern urban centers, the rat has incredible evolutionary advantages. Combining biology with history, and social commentary with firsthand experience, Rat dispels the myths and exposes the little-known facts about the ubiquitous rodent.

Plague carrier, city vermin, and an out-and-out menace to modern man, the rat, like death and taxes, is a certain fixture in humankind's history. Rats are found in virtually every nook and cranny of the globe and their numbers are ever increasing. Rats are always adapting and they seem to outwit any attempts by humans to wipe them out. What makes the rat such a worthy adversary and how has it risen to the top of the animal kingdom?

• Rats have been discovered living in meat lockers. The rats in there simply grew longer hair, fatter bodies, and nested in the carcasses they fed upon.
• A female rat can, under good conditions, have well over 100,000 babies in her lifetime.
• A rat can fall fifty feet onto pavement and skitter away unharmed.
• A rat's jaws can exert a force more than twenty times as powerful as a human's.
• The front side of a rat's incisors are as hard as some grades of steel.

In Rat: How the World's Most Notorious Rodent Clawed Its Way to the Top, Jerry Langton explores the history, myth, physiology, habits, and psyche of the rat and even speculates on the future of the rat and how they might evolve over the next few hundred years.

More books from St. Martin's Press

Cover of the book Hangman Blind by Jerry Langton
Cover of the book Cars from a Marriage by Jerry Langton
Cover of the book Mind/Reader by Jerry Langton
Cover of the book Midnight's Kiss: Part 3 by Jerry Langton
Cover of the book Inside 9-11 by Jerry Langton
Cover of the book Thomas Cromwell by Jerry Langton
Cover of the book Walk in My Shoes by Jerry Langton
Cover of the book Somebody Pick Up My Pieces by Jerry Langton
Cover of the book Aerosmith by Jerry Langton
Cover of the book Overruled: The Long War for Control of the U.S. Supreme Court by Jerry Langton
Cover of the book The Pericles Commission by Jerry Langton
Cover of the book The Misadventures of Justin Hearnfeld by Jerry Langton
Cover of the book Passage to the Millennium by Jerry Langton
Cover of the book Revolution by Jerry Langton
Cover of the book Perfect Sins by Jerry Langton
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy