Rats 8216;kind-hearted,generous creatures8217;

They housed rats in pairs so that they got to know each other. They then placed one in a transparent tube inside the cage,and found that the second rat was distressed until it worked out how to free the first one.

To their astonishment,not only did the creatures help cage-mates in distress,they also selflessly shared their treats with them. Perhaps less surprisingly,the female rats seemed to be more caring than the males.

During the experiment,the researchers found that the roaming rat became agitated the sight of its trapped friend,meaning it had picked up on the animal8217;s distress,the 8216;Daily Mail8217; reported.

But the free animal went much further,learning how to open the tube door,without being shown,and freeing its cage-mate.

This,said the researchers,meant the animal was 8220;putting itself in the other8217;s shoes8221; 8212; a much more complex form of empathy. Numerous rats repeated the pattern,according to the findings published in the 8216;Science8217; journal.