From the BBC: ‘Viking mouse’ invasion tracked.
Scientists say that studying the genes of mice will reveal new information about patterns of human migration.
They say the rodents have often been fellow travellers when populations set off in search of new places to live — and the details can be recovered.
A paper published in a Royal Society journal analyses the genetic make-up of house mice from more than 100 locations across the UK.
It shows that one distinct strain most probably arrived with the Vikings. [continue]
Justinian’s Flea recounted the tracking of the spread and ultimate extent of the plague by DNA analysis, based on the assumption that the rats and the fleas and the people all came as a package. It was a fascinating account, though by the end of it I never wanted to hear the phrase again. The most fascinating part of the book was the section on the larger effects on society and land distribution after the plague, I thought.