New York - A social behavior research team based in New York has recently found evidence of what could best be described as a gang social structure amongst New York sewer rats. Using tagging computer software and surveillance equipment, the team was able to observe the rats over a period of six months, longer than previously studied, observing everyday behaviors and eventual apparent community structure. The team describes separate groups of rats dominating a specific area of the sewers. "Most groups occupied a set area, the different groups respecting each other's boundaries." When a rat would cross into another's territory, the particular rat group would often respond with violence. Interestingly, only certain rats would respond with violence. After further observation, there appeared to be a hierarchical structuring to the different groups. There were often one or two rats, "godfather rats" as the team calls them, that would not respond with violence to invading rats. The "godfather rat" would often observe the violent rats, and exhibit alpha male characteristics after the altercation. The "soldier rats", or those involved with the violence showed submissive behavior to this "godfather rat" in the form of food gathering and grooming. Head researcher, Dr. James Conrad says "We have never seen anything like this, this is unbelievable, this is something we have never observed in rat communities in the wild." The researchers cite the crowded conditions as possible precipitants to the observed structure. "Our observations of rats in open settings with adequate resources show a more disorganized network. Its almost as if the harsh conditions and increased need for survival in the New York sewers force the rats to use an adaptable and workable community." Dr. James Conrad hypothesizes that without such a "gang-like" social structure, the rats would not survive as long as they do. Conrad suggests these same harsh conditions as possible contributors to the development of human gang activity.
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