CreatureData

Bush rat

Rattus fuscipes (Waterhouse, 1839)

Status not recordedrodents

The bush rat (Rattus fuscipes) is a species in the family Muridae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 127.3 g to 133 g and live up to 5.3 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia.

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Quick facts about the bush rat

Weight
127.3 g – 133 g
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
3.42 years – 5.3 years
Diet
Herbivore
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
26 days
Young per litter or clutch
4.58
Age at maturity
2.96 months – 3.51 months
Litters or clutches a year
3.3
Active
At night (nocturnal)
Lifestyle
Terrestrial
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Where does the bush 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 bush rat is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Is the bush rat endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the bush rat classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderRodentia
  5. familyMuridae
  6. genusRattus
  7. SpeciesRattus fuscipes (Waterhouse, 1839)

Synonyms Mus assimilis, Mus fuscipes, Mus greyii, Mus manicatus, Mus murrayi, Rattus assimilis coracius, Rattus glauerti, Rattus greyi peccatus, Rattus greyi pelori, Rattus greyi ravus

Other names and names in other languages (12)
  • Australian bush ratEnglish
  • Western swamp ratEnglish
  • جرذ داكن الساقArabic
  • Australische BuschratteGerman
  • Αυστραλιανός ΘαμνοποντικόςGreek
  • pensasrottaFinnish
  • Ratto dei cespugli australianoItalian
  • ヤブクマネズミJapanese
  • Australsk BuskrotteNorwegian Bokmål
  • szczur zaroślowyPolish
  • Темнолапая крысаRussian
  • جرذ المستنقع الغربيArabic

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the bush rat

Other species in the same genus Rattus.

LC, Least Concern
Brown rat (Rattus norvegicus)

Brown rat

Rattus norvegicus

Muridae

LC, Least Concern
Black rat (Rattus rattus)

Black rat

Rattus rattus

Muridae

Summit rat

Rattus baluensis

MuridaeNo free photo yet

CompareBush rat vs Brown ratBush rat vs Black ratBush rat vs Polynesian ratBush rat vs Ricefield rat

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the bush rat?

An adult bush rat weighs 127.3 g – 133 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the bush rat live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the bush rat for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

How long does the bush rat live?

The bush rat has a recorded lifespan of 3.42 years – 5.3 years.

How long is the bush rat pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 26 days.

What kind of animal is the bush rat?

The bush rat (Rattus fuscipes) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Bush rat (Rattus fuscipes). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/bush-rat

MLA

“Bush rat (Rattus fuscipes).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/bush-rat.

BibTeX
@misc{bush_rat_2026,
  title = {Bush rat (Rattus fuscipes)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/bush-rat},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}