Black rat
Rattus rattus (Linnaeus, 1758)
The black rat (Rattus rattus), also called the Roof rat, Ship rat or House rat, is a rodent in the family Muridae and subfamily Murinae. It is a small, nocturnal, terrestrial herbivore with a representative adult body mass of 229.1 g.
Quick facts about the black rat
Gestation lasts 22.26 days, litters average 5.95 young, females have 4.28 litters per year, and sexual maturity comes at 107.3 days. The black rat is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, and checklists record it in Australia.
- Weight
- 200 g – 229.1 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 4.2 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 22.3 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5.95src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3.37 months – 3.68 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 4.28src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
Photos of the black rat
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the black rat live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The black rat is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the black rat?
The black rat (Rattus rattus), also known as the roof rat, ship rat, or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the stereotypical rat genus Rattus, in the subfamily Murinae. It is a generalist omnivore that can live on a wide variety of foods. It associates extensively with humans, and most populations are synanthropic. It likely originated in the Indian subcontinent, but is now found worldwide.
The black rat is black to light brown in colour with a lighter underside. It is a prominent pest to farmers because it feeds on a wide range of agricultural crops. It is sometimes kept as a pet, though most domestic rats are a subspecies of the brown rat. In parts of India, it is considered sacred and respected, notably at the Karni Mata Temple in Deshnoke.
From the Wikipedia article “Black rat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black_rat&oldid=1380869904), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the black rat endangered?
The black rat is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the black rat classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyMuridae
- genusRattus
- SpeciesRattus rattus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Epimys chionogaster, Epimys kelaarti, Epimys rattus, Hapalotis arboricola, Mus alexandrinorattus, Mus alexandrinus, Mus alexandrinus, Mus arboreus, Mus asiaticus, Mus atratus, Mus atridorsum, Mus ceylonus, Mus crassipes, Mus erythronotus, Mus flavescens, Mus flaviventris, Mus galapagoensis, Mus griseocaeruleus, Mus infralineatus, Mus insularis, Mus jujensis, Mus kandianus, Mus kandiyanus, Mus kijabius, Mus latipes, Mus leucogaster, Mus muansae, Mus nemoralis, Mus novaezelandiae, Mus picteti, Mus rattus, Mus rattus ater, Mus rattus brookei, Mus rattus intermedius, Mus rattus jurassicus, Mus rufescens, Mus samharensis, Mus subcaeruleus, Mus sylvestris, Mus tectorum, Mus tectorum fuliginosus, Mus tetragonurus, Mus tompsoni, Mus variabilis, Musculus frugivorus, Myoxus siculae, Oryzomys flavescens, Rattus domesticus, Rattus domesticus albus, Rattus domesticus ater, Rattus domesticus fulvaster, Rattus domesticus fuscus, Rattus domesticus varius, Rattus norvegicus longicaudus, Rattus rattus alexandrinus, Rattus rattus chionogaster, Rattus rattus girensis, Rattus rattus narbadae, Rattus rattus nericola, Rattus rattus ruthenus, Rattus rattus sueirensis, Rattus rattus wroughtoni
Other names and names in other languages (24)
- House ratEnglish
- Roof ratEnglish
- Ship ratEnglish
- Llygod DuWelsh
- Llygoden DduWelsh
- HusrotteDanish
- Sort rotteDanish
- HausratteGerman
- Rata NegraSpanish
- mustarottaFinnish
- rat noirFrench
- radan dubhScottish Gaelic
- radain dubhaScottish Gaelic
- rodain dubhaScottish Gaelic
- rodan dubhScottish Gaelic
- svartrotteNorwegian Bokmål
- DakratDutch
- HuisratDutch
- ScheepsratDutch
- zwarte ratDutch
- DjakaPapiamento
- hanråttaSwedish
- svart råttaSwedish
- takråttaSwedish
Relatives of the black rat
Other species in the same genus Rattus.
Brown rat
Rattus norvegicus
Polynesian rat
Rattus exulans
Ricefield rat
Rattus argentiventer
Summit rat
Rattus baluensis
Bush rat
Rattus fuscipes
Tanezumi rat
Rattus tanezumi
CompareBlack rat vs Brown ratBlack rat vs Polynesian ratBlack rat vs Ricefield ratBlack rat vs Summit rat
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the black rat?
The black rat is a mammal, a rodent in the order Rodentia and the family Muridae.
How heavy is a black rat?
The black rat has a representative adult body mass of 229.1 g, placing it in the small size class.
What does the black rat eat?
The black rat is a herbivore.
Is the black rat endangered?
No. The black rat is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a black rat live?
The black rat has a lifespan of 4.2 years.
How many young does a black rat have?
The black rat has 5.95 young per litter and 4.28 litters per year, after a gestation of 22.26 days.
Which countries is the black rat recorded in?
Checklists record the black rat in Australia.
Who named the black rat?
The black rat, Rattus rattus, was named by (Linnaeus, 1758).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Black rat (Rattus rattus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-rat
“Black rat (Rattus rattus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-rat.
@misc{black_rat_2026,
title = {Black rat (Rattus rattus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-rat},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}