Rattus

Rattus
Temporal range: Early Pleistocene – Recent
The brown rat (Rattus norvegicus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Rodentia
Family:Muridae
Subfamily:Murinae
Genus:Rattus
Fischer de Waldheim, 1803
Species

64 species

Synonyms

Stenomys Thomas, 1910

The genus Rattus refers to a specific genus of muroid rodents, all typically called rats. However, the term rat can also be applied to species outside of this genus.

Species and description

The best-known Rattus species are the black rat (R. rattus) and the brown rat (R. norvegicus). The group is generally known as the Old World rats or true rats, and originated in Asia. Rats are bigger than most Old World mice, which are their relatives, but seldom weigh over 500 grams (1.1 lb) in the wild.[1]

Taxonomy of Rattus

The genus Rattus is a member of the giant subfamily Murinae. Several other murine genera are sometimes considered part of Rattus: Lenothrix, Anonymomys, Sundamys, Kadarsanomys, Diplothrix, Margaretamys, Lenomys, Komodomys, Palawanomys, Bunomys, Nesoromys, Stenomys, Taeromys, Paruromys, Abditomys, Tryphomys, Limnomys, Tarsomys, Bullimus, Apomys, Millardia, Srilankamys, Niviventer, Maxomys, Leopoldamys, Berylmys, Mastomys, Myomys, Praomys, Hylomyscus, Heimyscus, Stochomys, Dephomys, and Aethomys.

The genus Rattus proper contains 64 extant species. A subgeneric breakdown of the species has been proposed, but does not include all species.

Species

Genus Rattus – Typical rats

Phylogeny

The following phylogeny of selected Rattus species is from Pagès, et al. (2010).[2]

 

 

 

Berylmys bowersi

 
 

Berylmys berdmorei

 
 
 

 

 

Bandicota savilei

 
 

Bandicota indica

 
 
Rattus 

 

 

Rattus nitidus

 
 

Rattus norvegicus

 
 
 

 

Rattus exulans

 
 

 

Rattus andamanensis

 
 

 

Rattus argentiventer

 
 

 

 

Rattus tiomanicus

 
 

Rattus losea

 
 
 

 

Rattus sp.

 
 

 

Rattus tanezumi

 
 

Rattus rattus

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

References

  1. ↑ "Habits, Habitat & Types of Mice". Live Science. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  2. ↑ Pagès, Marie; Chaval, Yannick; Herbreteau, Vincent; Waengsothorn, Surachit; Cosson, Jean-François; Hugot, Jean-Pierre; Morand, Serge; Michaux, Johan (2010). "Revisiting the taxonomy of the Rattini tribe: a phylogeny-based delimitation of species boundaries". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 10: 184. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-10-184. Archived from the original on 2017-07-10.
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