Bulldog rat
Rattus nativitatis (Thomas, 1889)
The bulldog rat (Rattus nativitatis) is a species in the family Muridae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh about 150 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Extinct.
Quick facts about the bulldog rat
- Weight
- 150 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Extinct (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
Where does the bulldog 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 bulldog rat is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Why a country list is not a range map
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the bulldog rat?
The bulldog rat (Rattus nativitatis) is an extinct species of rat formerly endemic to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. It was one of two rats endemic to Christmas Island, alongside Maclear's rat.
From the Wikipedia article “Bulldog rat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bulldog_rat&oldid=1383497853), 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 bulldog rat endangered?
The bulldog rat is listed as Extinct on the IUCN Red List: it no living individuals remain.
- 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 Extinct species. What the categories mean.
How is the bulldog rat classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyMuridae
- genusRattus
- SpeciesRattus nativitatis (Thomas, 1889)
Synonyms Mus nativitatis
Other names and names in other languages (9)
- Christmas island burrowing ratEnglish
- Christmas island burrowing ratEnglish
- Christmas island ratEnglish
- Christmas island ratEnglish
- krysa buldočíCzech
- joulusaarenrottaFinnish
- Rat bulldogFrench
- ミズベクマネズミJapanese
- Бульдоговая крысаRussian
Relatives of the bulldog rat
Other species in the same genus Rattus.
Brown rat
Rattus norvegicus
Black rat
Rattus rattus
Polynesian rat
Rattus exulans
Ricefield rat
Rattus argentiventer
Summit rat
Rattus baluensis
Bush rat
Rattus fuscipes
CompareBulldog rat vs Brown ratBulldog rat vs Black ratBulldog rat vs Polynesian ratBulldog rat vs Ricefield rat
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the bulldog rat?
An adult bulldog rat weighs 150 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the bulldog rat live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the bulldog rat for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the bulldog rat endangered?
The bulldog rat is listed as Extinct on the IUCN Red List, meaning it no living individuals remain.
What kind of animal is the bulldog rat?
The bulldog rat (Rattus nativitatis) belongs to the family Muridae in the order Rodentia.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- 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). Bulldog rat (Rattus nativitatis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/bulldog-rat
“Bulldog rat (Rattus nativitatis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/bulldog-rat.
@misc{bulldog_rat_2026,
title = {Bulldog rat (Rattus nativitatis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/bulldog-rat},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}