AI overview
The brown rat is a medium-sized rodent species that is found in many parts of the world, often living near human settlements. It matters because it is one of the most widespread and successful mammals on Earth, significantly affecting human agriculture, food storage, and public health.
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Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- model organism
- Parent taxon
- Rattus
- Image
- A river rat.jpg
Show 6 more facts
- P105
- species
- P141
- Least Concern
- P2974
- shrubland
- P5588
- Australia
- P9714
- Ourilândia do Norte
Article
The brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat and Norwegian rat, is a widespread, common species of rat. One of the largest muroids, it is a brown or grey rodent with a body length of up to 28 cm (11 in) long, and a tail slightly shorter than that. It weighs between 140 and 500 g (4.9 and 17.6 oz). Thought to have originated in northern China and neighbouring areas, it has now spread to all continents except Antarctica, and is the dominant rat in Europe and much of North America, having become naturalised across the world. With rare exceptions, the brown rat lives wherever humans live, particularly in urban areas. It is omnivorous, reproduces rapidly, and can be a vector for several human diseases.
Selective breeding of the brown rat has produced the fancy rat (rats kept as pets), as well as the laboratory rat (rats used as model organisms in biological research). Both fancy rats and laboratory rats are of the domesticated subspecies Rattus norvegicus domestica. Studies of wild rats in New York City have shown that populations living in different neighborhoods can evolve distinct genomic profiles over time, by slowly accruing different traits.