# Black rat (*Rattus rattus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-rat  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

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. 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.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 200 g – 229.1 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 4.2 years |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Gestation | 22.3 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 5.95 |
| Age at maturity | 3.37 months – 3.68 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 4.28 |
| Active | At night (nocturnal) |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Rodentia
- family: Muridae
- genus: Rattus
- species: *Rattus 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*

## Countries on record

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.

Australia

## Common questions

### 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

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Black rat (Rattus rattus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-rat