“We put rats in relatively large areas with objects and routes resembling those in Manhattan,” explains Prof. Eilam. The rats, he found, do the same things humans do: They establish a grid system to orient themselves. Using the grid, the rats covered a vast amount of territory, “seeing the sights” quickly. In contrast, rats in an irregular plan resembling New Orleans’ failed to move far from where they started and didn’t cover much territory, despite travelling the same distances as the “Manhattan rats.”
Source: Science Daily
"Rat tracks" made by rats in two city plans: Manhattan-style (left) and New Orleans-style (right). In both plans rats cover the same distance, but rats in the "Manhattan" grid cover more territory. (Credit: Tel Aviv University)
I found this blog once, then lost it. Took me forever to come back and find it. I thought I missed something here the last time I read half of it so just wanted to come back and finish it. Nice blog by the way.