brown rat

brown rat, (Rattus norvegicus), species of rat found on every continent except Antarctica. The alternate name “Norway rat” came from a false hypothesis widely believed in 18th-century England that the rats were native to Norway. Research has confirmed, however, that the brown rat is native to Asia, specifically northern China or Mongolia. Outside its native region the brown rat is a largely disliked pest and an invasive species, though the animal is widely used in biomedical research and is sometimes kept as a pet.

Physical description

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The brown rat may weigh up to 0.5 kg (about 1 pound), twice as much as the average house rat (Rattus rattus), with males typically weighing more than females. The fur is most often gray or brown with a lighter face and underside; domesticated brown rats can also be white or mottled. Their long tails are covered in a thin layer of fur and are thus frequently mistaken as bald. The length of the tail often comes close to the length of the body.

A highly adaptable animal, the brown rat is basically omnivorous but prefers a carnivorous diet, aggressively pursuing a wide variety of prey, including shrimp, snails, mussels, insects, bird eggs and young, amphibians, eels, fish, pheasant, pigeons, poultry, rabbits, and carrion. They also consume seeds and various plant matter and human food waste. In addition, unlike most rat species, the brown rat is active during both day and night in both urban and rural environments.

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Brown rats are social animals, living in colonies that occupy specific territories. When mating, brown rats are polygynandrous, meaning that both males and females have multiple mates. Female rats give birth approximately six times in a year, typically yielding litters of up to 12 pups. Unlike most other rats, brown rats have 12 pairs of mammae.

Relationships with humans

It is thought that as agriculture developed in China, brown rats began living close to farms, where a consistent source of food was present. From there, the species likely spread gradually to southeastern Asia, then north to Japan and Russia, before moving westward to Europe by the mid-1500s. Scientists have theorized that as Western Europe colonized other parts of the world, the brown rat followed. The animals likely reached North America about 1750. According to recent research on rats in New York City, most brown rats living in the eastern United States, South America, Africa, and New Zealand descended from the rats of Western Europe. Scientists were surprised by the lack of genetic diversity in the New York City rats; it seemed as though even if brown rats were arriving from elsewhere on ships and other transport, the established population of rats were rejecting the newcomers aggressively enough that these foreign communities could not thrive. This aggression has likely aided brown rats in their global spread as an invasive species.

Brown rats often live alongside humans in regions both rural and urban, where they tend to be considered pests and are associated with filth and disease. Though brown rats, like other animals, keep themselves clean by washing, they are known to carry diseases that can be passed to humans and other species via bites, contact with urine, or fleas the rats carry. The brown rat has been implicated in the spread of dozens of human diseases, including bubonic plague, food poisoning (salmonellosis), schistosomiasis, murine typhus, tularemia, and leptospirosis.

Brown rats are also disliked for their tendency to damage human property by chewing through structures such as pipes, and they have been known to exploit and contaminate human food supplies. They also consume large amounts of grain and animal feed in agricultural areas and can kill poultry. They have been responsible for the depletion or extinction of native species of small mammals, birds, and reptiles, especially on oceanic islands.

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Brown rats are widely considered to be the first mammal domesticated for laboratory research. It was in 19th century Europe that brown rats were first used for research purposes; they were a suitable choice for research due to their abundance and negative reputation. Since then, laboratory rats have become integral to biomedical research. They differ in appearance from wild brown rats—laboratory rats are often albino, or white with red eyes—and in behavior, as laboratory rats are more docile than the wild brown rat.

The fancy rat is a domesticated brown rat, most commonly kept as a pet. They too differ in appearance from their wild counterparts, being typically smaller in size and presenting a number of coat colors and patterns, from white to blue-gray and being spotted. There are different varieties of the fancy rat, including the rex, which has curled fur and whiskers; the dumbo, which has larger ears set lower on the sides of the head; and hairless rats. Fancy rats have been selectively bred for gentleness and docility.