Learning about mice and men (From York Press)

Learning about mice and men

11:26am Wednesday 1st October 2008

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Scientists at the University of York believe scholars of human history can learn a lot from the humble house mouse.

Two papers by York scientists, published by the Royal Society, have shown how the genetic traits of mice, particularly DNA sequences, can be used to plot their movement across the globe.

They argue that because human settlers, such as the Vikings or the British colonials in New Zealand, have often provided sea passage for rodents, the global colonisation history of mice reflects the history of human movements.

Teams of scientists led by Professor Jeremy Searle, of the Department of Biology at York, have found that mice from the north-western parts of Britain came here with the invading Norwegian Viking armies, whereas house mice from the rest of Britain tend to reflect earlier Iron Age movements of people. Evidence suggests that New Zealand received a large influx of British house mice when settlers landed there.

European and Asian subspecies of mice were also found in New Zealand which reflects the arrivals of settlers of different origins.

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