Brown rat
Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769)
The brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) is a rodent in the family Muridae and subfamily Murinae, within the order Rodentia of the class Mammalia. It is a small, terrestrial, nocturnal herbivore, with an adult body mass from 280 g to 560 g and a representative value of 338 g, and its listed habitat is shrubland.
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Quick facts about the brown rat
Gestation lasts 21.61 days, litters average 8.9 young, there are 3.7 litters per year, and sexual maturity comes at 74 days. The brown rat is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category, and checklists record it in Australia.
- Weight
- 280 g – 560 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- up to 28 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 21.6 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 8.86src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 70 days – 78.8 dayssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 3.68src 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 brown rat
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
_also_called_Norway_Rat_or_Common_Rat_-_Mathias_Baldwin_Park,_Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania,_USA.jpg){kind=link}
_also_called_Norway_Rat_or_Common_Rat_-with_food_container_-_Mathias_Baldwin_Park,_Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania,_USA.jpg){kind=link}
_with_a_brown_rat_(Rattus_norvegicus)_at_the_Community_College_of_Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania,_USA.png){kind=link}
Where does the brown 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 brown 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 brown rat?
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.
From the Wikipedia article “Brown rat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brown_rat&oldid=1382038797), 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 brown rat endangered?
The brown 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 brown rat classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyMuridae
- genusRattus
- SpeciesRattus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769)
Synonyms Epimys norvegicus, Epimys norvegicus, Epimys norvegicus caraco, Epimys norvegicus socer, Mus aquaticus, Mus caraco, Mus caspius, Mus decumanoides, Mus decumanus, Mus decumanus hybridus, Mus decumanus major, Mus griseipectus, Mus hibernicus, Mus humiliatus, Mus javanus, Mus magnirostris, Mus maniculatus, Mus maurus, Mus norvegicus, Mus norvegicus praestans, Mus ouangthomae, Mus plumbeus, Mus surmolottus, Mus sylvaticus discolor, Rattus albinus, Rattus albus, Rattus aquaticus, Rattus caraco, Rattus caspius, Rattus decimallus, Rattus decumanus, Rattus humiliatus insolatus, Rattus humiliatus sowerbyi, Rattus norvegicus albus, Rattus norvegicus caraco, Rattus norvegicus norvegicus, Rattus norvegicus otomoi, Rattus norvegicus primarius, Rattus norvegicus suffureoventris, Rattus novergicus, Rattus rattoides insolatus
Other names and names in other languages (135)
- Common brown ratEnglish
- Common ratEnglish
- Common ratEnglish
- Domestic ratEnglish
- Dumbo ratEnglish
- Fancy ratEnglish
- Hanover ratEnglish
- Lab ratEnglish
- Laboratory ratEnglish
- Norway ratEnglish
- Norway ratEnglish
- Norwegian ratEnglish
- Pet ratEnglish
- Sewer ratEnglish
- Street ratEnglish
- Water ratEnglish
- Wharf ratEnglish
- BruinrotAfrikaans
- WanderraddeAlbanian
- جرذ أسمرArabic
- جرذ اسمرArabic
- جرذ النرويجيArabic
- Boz siçovulAzerbaijani
- Һоро ҡомаҡBashkir
- Шэры пацукBelarusian
- Сив плъхBulgarian
- বাদামি ধেমসা ইদুরBangla
- Razh rousBreton
- Smeđi pacovBosnian
- Rata comunaCatalan
- ЙĕкехӳреChuvash
- Сăрă йĕкехӳреChuvash
- PonticaCorsican
- potkanCzech
- Llygod FfyrnigWelsh
- Llygoden FfyrnigWelsh
- Brun rotteDanish
- WanderratteGerman
- Αρουραίος ο ΝορβηγικόςGreek
- Κοινός καστανός αρουραίοςGreek
- Bruna ratoEsperanto
- Rata pardaSpanish
- GuarénSpanish
- Rata de NoruegaSpanish
- Rata gris asiáticaSpanish
- Rata noruegaSpanish
- RändrottEstonian
- Arratoi arruntBasque
- جرذ بنيPersian
- موش صحرایی قهوهایPersian
- rottaFinnish
- IsorottaFinnish
- Brún rottaFaroese
- Rat brunFrench
- Rat d'égoutFrench
- Rat de NorvègeFrench
- Rat grisFrench
- rat surmulotFrench
- SurmulotFrench
- WaanerrootNorthern Frisian
- Brune rôtWestern Frisian
- WetterrôtWestern Frisian
- Francach donnIrish
- radanScottish Gaelic
- luch-FhrangachScottish Gaelic
- luchan-FrangachScottish Gaelic
- radainScottish Gaelic
- rodainScottish Gaelic
- rodanScottish Gaelic
- Rata comúnGalician
- RoddanManx
- חולדת חוףHebrew
- Smeđi štakorCroatian
- VándorpatkányHungarian
- tikus coklatIndonesian
- Tikus GotIndonesian
- tikus laboratoriumIndonesian
- tikus rumah besarIndonesian
- AviŋŋaqpakInupiaq
- PanteganaItalian
- Ratto delle chiavicheItalian
- Ratto domesticoItalian
- Ratto grigioItalian
- Ratto norvegeseItalian
- SurmolottoItalian
- ラットJapanese
- ドブネズミJapanese
- Сұр егеуқұйрықKazakh
- 집쥐Korean
- 시궁쥐Korean
- Brong RatLuxembourgish
- Pilkoji žiurkėLithuanian
- pelēkā žurkaLatvian
- KioreMāori
- KaingaruaMāori
- MaungaruaMāori
- PouhawaikiMāori
- Сив стаорецMacedonian
- Tikus mondokMalay
- Łéʼétsoh łibáhígííNavajo
- VandrerotteNorwegian Bokmål
- rotteNorwegian Bokmål
- Bruune rottLow German
- RioolratDutch
- bruine ratDutch
- DjakaPapiamento
- Szczur wędrownyPolish
- Rato-marromPortuguese
- Ratazana-castanhaPortuguese
- Paqu hatun ukuchaQuechua
- Șobolan cenușiuRomanian
- ПасюкRussian
- Серая крысаRussian
- PasyukRussian
- Seraya KrysaRussian
- Grund rattonScots
- roahttuNorthern Sami
- potkan hnedýSlovak
- siva podganaSlovenian
- сиви пацовSerbian
- Смеђи пацовSerbian
- Sivi pacovSerbian
- brun råttaSwedish
- vandrarråttaSwedish
- หนูท่อThai
- หนูนอร์เวย์Thai
- หนูบ้านThai
- Göçmen SıçanTurkish
- Lağım FaresiTurkish
- Norveç SıçanıTurkish
- Пацюк сірийUkrainian
- Chuột nâuVietnamese
- Brun ratWalloon
- 褐家鼠Chinese
- 溝鼠Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the brown rat
Other species in the same genus Rattus.
Black rat
Rattus rattus
Polynesian rat
Rattus exulans
Ricefield rat
Rattus argentiventer
Summit rat
Rattus baluensis
Bush rat
Rattus fuscipes
Tanezumi rat
Rattus tanezumi
CompareBrown rat vs Black ratBrown rat vs Polynesian ratBrown rat vs Ricefield ratBrown 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 brown rat?
The brown rat is a rodent, a mammal in the family Muridae. Other English names for it include lab rat, pet rat, wharf rat, Dumbo rat and fancy rat.
How heavy is a brown rat?
An adult brown rat weighs from 280 g to 560 g, with a representative value of 338 g.
What does the brown rat eat?
The brown rat is classed as a herbivore.
Is the brown rat endangered?
No. The brown rat is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a brown rat live?
The lifespan of the brown rat is listed as 5 years.
How many young does a brown rat have?
A brown rat has 8.9 young per litter on average and 3.7 litters per year, after a gestation period of 21.61 days.
Which countries is the brown rat recorded in?
Checklists record the brown rat in Australia.
Who named the brown rat and when?
The scientific name Rattus norvegicus is credited to Berkenhout, 1769, written as (Berkenhout, 1769).
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). Brown rat (Rattus norvegicus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/brown-rat
“Brown rat (Rattus norvegicus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/brown-rat.
@misc{brown_rat_2026,
title = {Brown rat (Rattus norvegicus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/brown-rat},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}