Cooperative behavior of laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus) in an instrumental task.

2011 ◽  
Vol 125 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylwia Łopuch ◽  
Piotr Popik
1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 1595-1599 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Lindsay ◽  
J. P. Dubey

The susceptibility of laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus) to experimental inoculation with tachyzoites of Neospora caninum was examined. Groups of female rats were intramuscularly injected with 0, 2, or 4 mg of methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) 7 days prior to, and on the day of, subcutaneous inoculation with 0 or 1.5 × 105 tachyzoites. Clinical signs of disease or deaths did not occur in rats given nothing or only N. caninum tachyzoites. Rats given only 4 mg MPA failed to grow as well as rats given nothing or only N. caninum tachyzoites but were otherwise healthy. All of 20 rats given 4 mg MPA and tachyzoites died of hepatitis and pneumonia within 12 days postinoculation. Hepatic necrosis was the most striking lesion seen in these rats, and other milder lesions consisted of pneumonia, encephalitis, and myositis. The response of rats given 2 mg MPA and tachyzoites was less severe. Three of 20 rats died with encephalitis, myositis, hepatitis, and pancreatitis. Mild lesions, but no N. caninum tachyzoites, were seen in 3 of 14 rats inoculated only with tachyzoites. Rats given the 4 mg MPA treatment and inoculated with N. caninum tachyzoites appear to be suitable subjects for examining acute neosporosis and could be used in studies designed to examine treatment of acute disease.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-259
Author(s):  
Rahul Pratap Singh ◽  
Babul Chandra Roy ◽  
Asish Kumer Debnath ◽  
Sultana Fizun Nahar ◽  
Md Hasanuzzaman Talukder

Hymenolepis nana and Hymenolepis diminuta are globally widespread zoonotic cestodes and rats act as main reservoir host of these cestodes. Wild brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) are the most common rats usually live in human’s dwellings, especially in areas of low socioeconomic status and low levels of hygiene practices. Since there is scarcity of information of the hymenolepiasis in rats in Bangladesh, therefore the aim of this study was to determine the incidence of H. nana and H. diminuta in wild and laboratory rats. A total of 60 rats were collected from the residential areas of rural villages of Mymensingh sadar and the Bangladesh Agricultural University campus and 10 were from the laboratory of the Department of Parasitology, BAU, Mymensingh. The rats were killed by cardiac puncture and tapeworms were collected and subsequently were subjected for morphological study under the stereomicroscope. Two species of cestodes, namely H. nana and H. diminuta were detected showing the overall prevalence of 23.3 % and 35 % respectively. The high prevalence of H. nana (30%) was determined in rats captured from the rural village areas whereas H. diminuta was found more prevalent (60%) in the laboratory rats. The result of the current study suggests that H. nana infection in rural village areas may act as a risk factor for the zoonotic transmission of hymenolepiasis to human in Bangladesh. Res. Agric., Livest. Fish.7(2): 255-259,  August 2020


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael H Parsons ◽  
Michael A Deutsch ◽  
Dani Dumitriu ◽  
Jason Munshi-South

Abstract Wild rats (Rattus norvegicus) are among the most ubiquitous and consequential organisms in the urban environment. However, collecting data from city rats is difficult, and there has been little research to determine the influence, or valence, of rat scents on urban conspecifics. Using a mark-release-monitor protocol, we previously learned rats can be attracted to remote-sensing points when baited with mixed-bedding from male and female laboratory rats. It was thus essential that we disambiguate which scents were eliciting attraction (+ valence), inspection, a conditioned response whereby attraction may be followed by avoidance (–valence), or null-response (0 valence). We used radio-frequency identification tagging and scent-baited antennas to assess extended (>40 days) responses to either male or female scents against two risk presentations (near-shelter and exposed to predators). In response to male scents, rats (n = 8) visited both treatments (shelter, exposed) more than controls (0.2 visits/day treatment vs. 0.1/day; P < 0.05) indicating scents accounted for response more so than risk. Dwell-times, however, did not differ (1.2 s/visit treatment vs. 0.9 s/visit; P > 0.5). These outcomes are consistent with inspection (–valence). In response to female scents, rats (n = 7) increased visitation (5.02 visits/day vs. 0.1/day controls; P < 0.05), while dwell-times also increased 6.8 s/visit vs. 0.2 s/visit in both risk-settings. The latter is consistent with persistent attraction (+valence), but was also influenced by shelter, as runway visits (1.1 visits/day) were a magnitude more common than predator-exposed (0.1 visits/day). Further understanding and exploiting the mobility of city rats is necessary for improvements in basic and applied research, including city pathogen-surveillance and urban wildlife management.


1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 896-903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Lyell Gardner ◽  
Gerald D. Schmidt

Cestodes found to represent previously undescribed members of the genus Hymenolepis s.str. (Yamaguti 1959) were recovered from pocket gophers, Geomys bursarius (Shaw), in northeastern Colorado. Hymenolepis weldensis n.sp. and Hymenolepis geomydis n.sp., not occurring together in any individual host, were found in 3 and 8%, respectively, of pocket gophers examined for helminths. The life cycle of H. weldensis was completed in the laboratory using beetles, Tenebrio molitor (L.), as intermediate hosts, and pocket gophers of three genera (Geomys, Thomomys, and Pappogeomys) as definitive hosts. Development of H. weldensis did not occur in laboratory rats, Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout). Morphologic relationships four species of Hymenolepis (H. diminuta, H. tualatinensis, H. weldensis, and H. geomydis) were analyzed using multiple discriminant function analysis, which clearly allocated individual cestodes to the respective groups and discriminated species.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Widya Ayu Kusuma ◽  
Aditya Yudhana ◽  
Anita Andriyani ◽  
Vivi Oktaviana ◽  
Nadya Amanda Chaerunisa

Albino rats (Rattus norvegicus) is one animal that is often used by researchers in the laboratory. Albino laboratory rats were found to have symptoms of hair loss, the hair is dirty, and itching at the base of the tail and found ectoparasites. Department of Parasitology in Banyuwangi PSDKU Airlangga University have observed and identified ectoparasites as the cause of the symptoms of these rats. Albino rats infested Polyplax spinulosa.


2008 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 801-809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver H.P. Burman ◽  
Richard Parker ◽  
Elizabeth S. Paul ◽  
Michael Mendl

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