Rattus is a
genus of
muroidrodents, 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 Rattusspecies 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.
Himalayan field rat (Rattus nitidus) – originally native to
Bhutan,
China, India, Myanmar,
Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam (presence uncertain in Bangladesh), but now introduced to Indonesia, the Philippines, and
Palau
Brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) – originally native to southeast
Siberia, northeast China, and parts of
Japan, but now introduced worldwide except Antarctica
Tanezumi rat (Rattus tanezumi) –
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China,
Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan,
North Korea, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam
^Thomson, Vicki; Wiewel, Andrew; Chinen, Aldo; Maryanto, Ibnu; Sinaga, M. H.; How, Ric; Aplin, Ken; Suzuki, Hitoshi (2018). "A perspective for resolving the systematics of Rattus, the vertebrates with the most influence on human welfare". Zootaxa. 4459 (3): 431–452.
doi:
10.11646/zootaxa.4459.3.2.
PMID30314119.
S2CID52975664.
^Chang, M.; Zhang, C.; et al. (January 2023). "A new Rattus species and its associated micromammals from the Pliocene Yangyi Formation in Baoshan, Western Yunnan, China". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 43 (1): e2249063.
doi:
10.1080/02724634.2023.2249063.