Caption
Woodcut illustration of Black Rat (Rattus rattus), from Volume 1 Conrad Gesner's 1551 Historiae Animalium (here in his Icones Animalium 1560). The black rat's fleas are believed to have carried plague (Yersinia pestis) to human victims in medieval times. Conrad Gesner, the greatest naturalist of his age, was himself killed by the plague in 1565. He was said to have asked to be taken to his library to die among his books. The black rat was largely out-competed by the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) in the 18th century.
Availability
Only inBelgium, Canada, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland