This article is about the genus Rattus. For pet rats, see Fancy rat. For other uses, see Rat (disambiguation).
| Rats Temporal range: Early Pleistocene – Recent | |
|---|---|
 | |
| The common Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Superfamily: | Muroidea |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Subfamily: | Murinae |
| Genus: | Rattus Fischer de Waldheim, 1803 |
| Species | |
| Synonyms | |
Stenomys Thomas, 1910 | |
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus. Many members of other rodent genera and families are also referred to as rats, and share many characteristics with true rats.
Rats are typically distinguished from mice by their size; rats are generally large muroid rodents, while mice are generally small muroid rodents. The muroid family is very large and complex, and the common terms rat and mouse are not taxonomically specific. Generally, when someone discovers a large muroid, its common name includes the term rat, while if it is small, the name includes the term mouse. Scientifically, the terms are not confined to members of the Rattus andMus genera, for example, the pack rat and cotton mouse.
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