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'Domestic rats are now not the same as wild rats, in the same way that a dog is different from its ancestor, the wolf, but nevertheless some remnant of wolf-like behaviour is in your dog. That's the general principle,' said Berdoy.
'We're not just looking at a mass of cells; you're looking at a very sophisticated [mammal]_ rats have evolved for specific purposes. All animals will have evolved to do certain things. If you do not keep an animal properly then you are likely to get biased results because that animal is a stressed being.'
Rats and mice are popular lab animals because like humans they are successful social omnivores, which share 95 per cent of the same genes, and unlike other mammals are easier to keep because they are small, adaptable and quick to reproduce.
BErdoy is wary of taking the comparisons too far, but says modern humans who had to fend for themselves in the wild would probably resort to many of the same tactics as the rats - especially when it came to finding safe food, establishing social hierarchies, and even possibly sex.
The important social comparison was echoed by Dr James Thompson, senior lecturer in psychology at UCL in London, who said humans in comparable situations - such as disasters - could organise themselves into a useful society within hours.
'There is a massive change in priorities for action and it isn't necessarily distinctive Lord of the Flies. It's sometimes supportive, but it's generally more functional than our ordinary civilised life tends to be,' he said.
He added that there was also a 'hierarchy of utility' that appeared in disaster situations. 'Practical intelligence seems to dominate, and a certain selfishness seems to have an impact on this so people have to push to do things, and people who are too polite or waiting for others to organise things tend to be left behind.'