In NYC, Even Rats Live Differently Uptown

NEW YORK, NY – In New York City, the neighborhood you live in matters even if you're a rat.

Research by a Fordham University scientist has found that rodents are genetically different if they live Uptown or Downtown, with Midtown serving as the divider. The findings were first reported by The Atlantic.

Graduate student Matthew Combs found distinct subpopulations in the DNA of the city's rats. And Midtown was seen to be the reason because the largely commercial district lacked household trash and the backyards that helped the rats in the neighborhoods above and below thrive.

The change in habitat created a barrier that meant the Uptown rats didn't mingle with their Downtown brethren, and vice versa, the research found.

"Since rats tend to move only a few blocks in their lifetimes, the Uptown rats and Downtown rats don't mix much," The Atlantic reported.

The magazine reported that Combs and his team of researchers spent months trapping the rodents throughout Manhattan, tempting them with bait including peanut butter, bacon and oats. They cut off a section of the trapped animals' tails for the testing.

The research also found differences between the rats in neighborhoods mere blocks away from one another. "If you gave us a rat, we could tell whether it came from the West Village or the East Village," Combs told The Atlantic. "They're actually unique little rat neighborhoods."

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