shows that Europe always experienced plague outbreaks after central Asia had a wet spring followed by a warm summer — terrible conditions for black rats, but ideal for Asia’s gerbil population.

Black rats were thought to have brought the plague bug (Yersinia pestis) along the Silk Road to Europe from the Far East, causing a series of outbreaks from 1347 on.

Scientists believe repeat epidemics of the Black Death, which arrived in Europe in the mid-14th Century, instead trace back to gerbils from Asia. Prof Nils Christian Stenseth, from the University ...

A study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that the Black Death traces back to gerbils from Asia and not black rats. BBC reports that the Black Death arrived in ...

Well, prepare to have your mind blown (and find a new pet): according to a new study, gerbils are more likely to blame. The Black Death — a mid-14th century epidemic of the bubonic plague that ...

Gerbils are a beloved classroom pet ... Sponsor Message "When you see the old textbooks and descriptions of plague and the Black Death, it's all rats and rat fleas," he says.