''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 appropriate s ...

are the black rat (''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 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, 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 The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. Members of this subfamily are called murines. In terms of species richness, this subfamily is larger than all mammal families excep ...

. Several other murine genera are sometimes considered part of ''Rattus'': '' Lenothrix'', '' Anonymomys'', '' Sundamys'', '' Kadarsanomys'', '' Diplothrix'', ''

Margaretamys ''Margaretamys'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Up until 1973, it was known from only few examples of one species. Then Guy G. Musser collected more examples of this species during his ...

'', '' Lenomys'', ''

Komodomys The Komodo rat or Nusa Tenggara Komodomys, (''Komodomys rintjanus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae found only in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia, in Rintja, Padar, Lomblen, and Pantar islands. Its natural habitat is subtropic ...

'', '' Palawanomys'', ''

Bunomys ''Bunomys'' is a genus of rodent from Sulawesi and Buton Island. Currently, eight species are recognised in two species-groups. Species Genus ''Bunomys'' ''chrysocomus''-group: * Yellow-haired hill rat, ''Bunomys chrysocomus'' Hoffmann, 1887 * ...

'', ''

Nesoromys The Ceram rat (''Nesoromys ceramicus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Seram Island, Indonesia, where it has been recorded on Mount Mansuela Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. M ...

'', ''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 (''Taer ...

'', ''

Paruromys The Sulawesi giant rat (''Paruromys dominator'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is monotypic in the genus ''Paruromys''. The species is endemic to Sulawesi in Indonesia, where it inhabits forests at elevations from sea level to ...

'', ''

Abditomys The Luzon broad-toothed rat (''Abditomys latidens'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is endemic to central and northern Luzon in the Philippines. It is the only member of the genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic r ...

'', ''

Tryphomys The Luzon short-nosed rat (''Tryphomys adustus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is the only species in the genus ''Tryphomys''. It is found only in the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officia ...

'', ''

Limnomys ''Limnomys'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to Mindanao, Philippines. It contains the following species: * Gray-bellied mountain rat (''Limnomys bryophilus'') * Mindanao mountain rat The Mindanao mountain rat or long-taile ...

'', ''

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), * bi ...

'', '' Bullimus'', '' Apomys'', '' Millardia'', '' Srilankamys'', '' Niviventer'', ''

Maxomys ''Maxomys'' is a genus of rodents, widespread in Southeast Asia. They are mid-sized rodents, similar to rats, that live on the ground of tropical rainforests. There they build nests, padded with fallen leaves from trees. They feed on roots, fall ...

'', '' Leopoldamys'', '' Berylmys'', ''

Mastomys ''Mastomys'' 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 ...

'', '' Myomys'', ''

Praomys ''Praomys'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa. It contains the following species: * '' Praomys coetzeei'' * Dalton's mouse, ''Praomys daltoni'' * De Graaff's soft-furred mouse, ''Praomys degraaffi'' * Der ...

'', '' 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 Re ...

'', '' Stochomys'', '' Dephomys'' and ''

Aethomys ''Aethomys'' is a genus of rodent from Africa.CHIMIMBA, CHRISTIAN T., NICO J. DIPPENAAR, and TERENCE J. ROBINSON.Morphometric and morphological delineation of southern African species of Aethomys (Rodentia: Muridae)" Biological Journal of the Li ...

''. 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 st ...

. 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