CreatureData

Common rock rat

Zyzomys argurus (Thomas, 1889)

LCLeast Concernrodents

The common rock rat (Zyzomys argurus) is a species in the family Muridae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 36 g to 45.2 g and live up to 4.16 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

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Quick facts about the common rock rat

Weight
36 g – 45.2 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
4.16 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
27.7 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
2.63src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
5.1 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1.42src 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

Where does the common rock 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 common rock 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

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the common rock rat?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The common rock rat (Zyzomys argurus) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Australia, where it lives in the rocky areas of woodlands, grasslands and low open forests, particularly on the talus, or scree, of cliff slopes. As a nocturnal animal, it spends the daytime nesting in cool rock crevices. Direct exposure to the sun can quickly result in heat stroke and death.

The rock rat is an overall golden brown with white belly. It can weigh anywhere 25–65 grams (0.88–2.29 oz), with a head to body length of 85–140 millimetres (3.3–5.5 in). The thick tail is 90–125 millimetres (3.5–4.9 in) long and contains fat deposits. The tail is covered in overlapping scales and sparse hairs. The skin of the tail can easily be pulled off, allowing the animal to escape predators in some situations (this function is similar to that of lizard tail autotomy).

They are sexually mature at 5 to 6 months of age. The females have 4 nipples but litters average 2 to 3 offspring. Gestation is about 35 days. By the 10th day, the offspring are covered in fur, and by the 12th day their eyes are open. They are weaned by 4 weeks of age. The life span of the Common Rock Rat in the wild is unknown, but an age of 4.2 years in captivity has been reported.

Their diet consists of plant matter, grasses, seeds, fungi and insects. One was observed in Maguk, Kakadu National Park, tucking into a plate of custard and rice pudding that someone had left unattended (Goodfellow, Fauna of Kakadu and the Top End, 1993).

From the Wikipedia article “Common rock rat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_rock_rat&oldid=1314241234), 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 common rock rat endangered?

The common rock rat is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the common rock rat classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderRodentia
  5. familyMuridae
  6. genusZyzomys
  7. SpeciesZyzomys argurus (Thomas, 1889)

Synonyms Mesembriomys argurus indutus, Mus argurus

Other names and names in other languages (9)
  • Common Australian rock ratEnglish
  • Common Australian rock ratEnglish
  • Silver-tailed rock ratEnglish
  • Silver-tailed rock ratEnglish
  • skálomyš obecnáCzech
  • pohjoisaustralianrottaFinnish
  • オブトイワバネズミJapanese
  • skałoskakun srebrnoogonowyPolish
  • Серебрянохвостая крысаRussian

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the common rock rat

Other species in the same genus Zyzomys.

CompareCommon rock rat vs Central rock ratCommon rock rat vs Kimberley rock ratCommon rock rat vs Carpentarian rock ratCommon rock rat vs Arnhem land rock rat

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the common rock rat?

An adult common rock rat weighs 36 g – 45.2 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the common rock rat live?

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

Is the common rock rat endangered?

The common rock rat is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the common rock rat live?

The common rock rat has a recorded lifespan of 4.16 years.

How long is the common rock rat pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 27.7 days.

What kind of animal is the common rock rat?

The common rock rat (Zyzomys argurus) 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). Common rock rat (Zyzomys argurus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-rock-rat

MLA

“Common rock rat (Zyzomys argurus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-rock-rat.

BibTeX
@misc{common_rock_rat_2026,
  title = {Common rock rat (Zyzomys argurus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-rock-rat},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}