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SpeciesRodentiaMuridae
Mammals

🐭Brown rat

Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769)

褐家鼠(学名:Rattus norvegicus),又名褐鼠、大鼠、挪威鼠、大家鼠、白尾吊、耗子、粪鼠、溝鼠,为鼠科家鼠属的动物,是有名及常見的老鼠之一,也是之中最大的物種,一般生活於田野、家舍广泛栖息。该物种的模式产地在英国。 褐家鼠最早源自中國北方,且目前已經散佈到南極以外所有大陸上,在歐洲成為優勢鼠類物種,於北美洲有也不少數量。生活於人類居住地,尤其是都會區。褐家鼠也被馴化成寵物寵物大鼠以及實驗大鼠,是重要的模式生物。 人們不知為何将其命名為挪威鼠,實際上牠們並不是來自挪威,1769年的書《Outlines of the Natural History of Great Britain》作者約翰·貝克恩霍特(John Berkenhout)被認為可能是這誤稱的來源。貝克恩霍特給此物種的學名為Rattus norvegicus,因為他相信此物種是在1728年經由挪威船隻遷移到英國,不過事實上此物種是來自丹麥。

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Measurements
12
vs you
≈ 1/220th of your weight
Also called
common rat, Norway rat
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2026.

Population trendStable
Key measurements
Body mass
0.28 kg
Body length
0.3 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
5 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Brown rat

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
0.28 kg
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 0.3 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length
0.3 m
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Brain mass
2.87 g
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
5 years
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 3.8 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Generation length
1.63 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Age at maturity
55 days
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Gestation
22 days
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 21 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Litter size
about 9
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 9.9AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Trophic level
Carnivore
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Activity cycle
Nocturnal
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Home range
0 km²
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
0.3 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Brown rat yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classMammalia
  4. ›orderRodentia
  5. ›familyMuridae
  6. ›genusRattus
  7. ›speciesRattus norvegicus
Full lineage
  1. classMammals · Mammalia
  2. orderRodents · Rodentia
  3. suborderMyomorpha
  4. familyMuridae
All 13 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammals · Mammalia
  9. subclassTheria
  10. superorderEuarchontoglires
  11. orderRodents · Rodentia
  12. suborderMyomorpha
  13. familyMuridae
More

More about the Brown rat

What it eats
seeds and grain40%
insects and other invertebrates30%
fruit20%
leaves, roots and other plants10%
In other languages
Wanderratte (de), isorotta (fi), rat brun (fr), brunrotte (nb), bruine rat (nl), 溝鼠 (zh) … and 27 more languages
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