Rats are easily identified by their long tails. Rat tails are commonly as long as the rats body. This distinctive feature helps the rat in its daily activities. We’ll look over some of the main functions of the rat tail.
The long tail of the rat aids in temperature regulation. Rat tails are filled with blood vessels that can dilate and contract to allow more or less blood into the tail and away from the body. When temperatures are warm the vessels in the tail dilate and help disperse heat. When temperatures are cold the vessels constrict keeping the warm blood close to the body and organs. The climate rats are born in influence the size of the rats tail. The tail can also wrap around the body of the rat to aid in temperature regulation.
Rat tails aid in balance. The rat tail is a direct extension of the vertebrae and can sway in a myriad of directions to act as a counter weight. For this reason rats have found ways to nibble baits from traps without triggering their mechanisms. Rats tails will also wrap around wires and aid in their ability to follow electric lines or cable lines onto roofs. Rat tails are also hairless.
The hairlessness of a rats tail aids in their ability to use it for grip. Rats with mutations leaving them tailless tend to fair poorly when confronted with predators and balancing through their terrain. Tailless rats also have issues regulating their body temperatures.
Rats have proven themselves throughout history to be versatile adaptors. From the periods of the bubonic plague to now rats have survived and thrived. If you see a rodent with a tail as long as its body chances are you’re looking at a rat.