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The Black Rat is the smaller cousin of the brown rat. This species, a member of the taxonomic order Rodentia, is distantly related to everything from the house mouse, to the capybara and the beaver. People around the globe refer to this rodent species as the ship rat, house rat, roof rat, and more. Read on to learn about the Black Rat.
Meet the black rat (Rattus rattus) on the Animal Facts including their appearance, diet, habitat, range, lifespan, breeding and behavior.
The Black Rat has a black to tawny-brown upper body with a paler, lighter-brown or slate-colored underbody. It has a scaly, almost hairless tail that is slightly longer (7 to 9 inches/18.5 to 24 centimeters) than its head and body, for a total length of over 14 inches (35.5 centimeters).
Updated. 21/04/22. Read time. 2 minutes. Despite its name, the Black Rat is usually brown or grey. A distinctive characteristic of rats that helps distinguish them from similarly sized carnivorous marsupials is their front teeth: a pair of chisel shaped incisors with hard yellow enamel on the front surfaces. Other characteristics that identify ...
Some other common names for this species include house rat, black rat, and roof rat. Rattus rattus thrives in tropical regions but has been largely driven out of more temperate regions by Noway rats, R. norvegicus. Norway rats, are closely related to black rats, but are more
The black rat is native to Southeast Asia but has since spread to other parts of the world through human activity. It is well-adapted to various habitats and can be found in both natural environments such as forests and grasslands, as well as man-made structures like buildings and ships.
Despite its name, the black rat is usually brown or grey in colour with a pale, white belly and its coat is sleek and smooth. Sometimes confused with native marsupial rodents of Australia, look to the front teeth to tell the difference – the black rat is easily set apart by its pair of chisel shaped incisors with hard yellow enamel covering ...
