''Rattus'' is a genus of

muroid The Muroidea are a large superfamily of rodents, including mice, rats, voles, hamsters, lemmings, gerbils, and many other relatives. Although the Muroidea originated in Eurasia, they occupy a vast variety of habitats on every continent excep ...

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

s, all typically called rats. However, the term rat can also be applied to rodent species outside of this genus.

Species and description

The best-known ''Rattus''

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

are the

black rat The black rat (''Rattus rattus''), also known as the roof rat, ship rat, or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the stereotypical rat genus ''Rattus'', in the subfamily Murinae. It likely originated in the Indian subcontinent, but is ...

(''R. rattus'') and the

brown rat The brown rat (''Rattus norvegicus''), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Norwegian rat and Parisian rat, is a widespread species of common rat. One of the largest muroids, it is a brown o ...

(''R. norvegicus''). The group is generally known as the

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by thei ...

rats or true rats and originated in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. Rats are bigger than most Old World

mice A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...

, which are their relatives, but seldom weigh over in the wild.

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 The Mindoro climbing rat or Mindoro rat (''Anonymomys mindorensis'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.Musser, Guy G. "Notes on systematics of Indo-Malayan murid rodents, and descriptions of new genera and species from Ceylon, Sulawesi ...

'', ''

Sundamys ''Sundamys'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae, found mostly in Indonesia and Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories ...

'', ''

Kadarsanomys Sody's tree rat (''Kadarsanomys sodyi'') is a rodent species in the family Muridae that has been recorded only in bamboo forest in Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park, West Java, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, i ...

'', ''

Diplothrix ''Diplothrix'' is a genus of two species of rodents in the family Muridae. '' Diplothrix legata'' occurs in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. '' Diplothrix yangziensis'' is known only from fossils collected in eastern China, dating to the Early Pleist ...

'', '' Margaretamys'', ''

Lenomys ''Lenomys'' is a genus of rodent endemic to Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of ...

'', '' Komodomys'', ''

Palawanomys The Palawan soft-furred mountain rat (''Palawanomys furvus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is the only species in the genus ''Palawanomys''. It is found only in Palawan, Philippines, and has been recorded on Mount Mantaling ...

'', '' Bunomys'', '' Nesoromys'', ''Stenomys'', ''

Taeromys ''Taeromys'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae found exclusively in Sulawesi, Indonesia. It contains the following species: * Salokko rat (''Taeromys arcuatus'') * Lovely-haired rat (''Taeromys callitrichus'') * Celebes rat (''Taerom ...

'', '' Paruromys'', '' Abditomys'', '' Tryphomys'', '' Limnomys'', ''

Tarsomys ''Tarsomys'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae found exclusively in Mindanao, Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik ...

'', ''

Bullimus ''Bullimus'' is a genus of rodent from the Philippines, as first catalogued by Mearns, in 1905. Species Genus ''Bullimus'' * Bagobo rat, ''Bullimus bagobus'', Mindanao * Carleton's forest rat, ''Bullimus carletoni'', Luzon - Described in 2021. * ...

'', ''

Apomys ''Apomys'', commonly known as earthworm mice, is a genus of rodent endemic to the Philippines. Mice belonging to this genus are generally called Philippine forest mice and can be found on most islands of the Philippines except in Palawan, the Su ...

'', ''

Millardia ''Millardia'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae The Muridae, or murids, are the largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 1,383 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throu ...

'', ''

Srilankamys The Ohiya rat (''Srilankamys ohiensis''), or Sri Lanka bi-colored rat, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is the only species in the genus ''Srilankamys''. It is found only in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ...

'', ''

Niviventer ''Niviventer'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to Southeast Asia. It contains the following species: * Anderson's white-bellied rat, ''Niviventer andersoni'' * Brahma white-bellied rat, ''Niviventer brahma'' * '' Niviventer b ...

'', '' Maxomys'', ''

Leopoldamys ''Leopoldamys'' is a genus of rodents in the family Muridae endemic to Southeast Asia. It contains the following species: * Sundaic mountain long-tailed giant rat (''Leopoldamys ciliatus'') * '' Leopoldamys diwangkarai'' * Edwards's long-tailed ...

'', '' Berylmys'', '' Mastomys'', '' Myomys'', '' Praomys'', '' Hylomyscus'', ''

Heimyscus The African smoky mouse or smokey heimyscus (''Heimyscus fumosus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is the only species in the genus ''Heimyscus''. It is native to Central Africa, where it occurs in Cameroon, Central African ...

'', ''

Stochomys The target rat (''Stochomys longicaudatus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is the only species in the genus ''Stochomys''. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Description The target rat is a ...

'', ''

Dephomys ''Dephomys'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square ...

'' and '' Aethomys''. The genus ''Rattus'' proper contains 64

extant species Neontology is a part of biology that, in contrast to paleontology, deals with living (or, more generally, ''recent'') organisms. It is the study of extant taxa (singular: extant taxon): taxa (such as species, genera and families) with members sti ...

. A subgeneric breakdown of the species has been proposed, but does not include all species.

Species

Phylogeny

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

References

{{Authority control . Rodent genera Taxa named by Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim Extant Pleistocene first appearances