[Aztlan] Rats again

[Martha Gottlieb]

On Tuesday 20 May 2008 02:57 pm, Nick Hopkins wrote:
> I just had a look at Wikipedia (ALWAYS a reliable source...), and
> "true rats" are Old World (Asian origin) species that spread around
> the globe with commerce, mainly through European vessels.  So there
> weren't any "rats" in precolombian Mesoamerica.  I suspect the
> confusion arises in the translation of Spanish ratn, which means
> "mouse", not "rat" (rata).
>
> Nick Hopkins

OK - tried Google  "wood rat native american".
The Mexican Woodrat has bulging eyes and a hairless tail.  The range from the 
southern Rockies down the spine to the highlands of Guatemala and on onto 
Nicaragua.  It isn't a "true rat", though.  It seems they are really related 
to mice, voles and lemmings! The ones here in the Northeast  sure look like 
rats.   Here is the Smithsonian page.
http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=219
There is a whole series of native American woodrats, pretty much filling the 
continent's econiches. (new word)
			Martha Gottlieb