Dusky field rat
Rattus sordidus (Gould, 1858)
The dusky field rat (Rattus sordidus) is a species in the family Muridae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh about 157.5 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the dusky field rat
- Weight
- 157.5 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 21.9 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 6src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 57.1 dayssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 4src 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 dusky field 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 dusky field 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 dusky field rat?
The dusky field rat (Rattus sordidus), also known as the canefield rat, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. In Australia it is found in northern Queensland and along the east coast as far south as Shoalwater Bay, where it is plentiful, and on South West Island in the Sir Edward Pellew Group off the Northern Territory, where it is considered a threatened species.
From the Wikipedia article “Dusky field rat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dusky_field_rat&oldid=1384683210), 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 dusky field rat endangered?
The dusky field 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. What the categories mean.
How is the dusky field rat classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyMuridae
- genusRattus
- SpeciesRattus sordidus (Gould, 1858)
Synonyms Mus sordidus, Rattus brachyrhinus, Rattus conatus, Rattus gestri bunae, Rattus sordidus gestroi, Rattus youngi
Other names and names in other languages (8)
- Canefield ratEnglish
- Canefield ratEnglish
- Dunkle FeldratteGerman
- Australische ZuckerrohrratteGerman
- karhorottaFinnish
- ウスクロクマネズミJapanese
- szczur ciemnyPolish
- Тёмная полевая крысаRussian
Relatives of the dusky field 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
CompareDusky field rat vs Brown ratDusky field rat vs Black ratDusky field rat vs Polynesian ratDusky field rat vs Ricefield rat
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the dusky field rat?
An adult dusky field rat weighs 157.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the dusky field rat live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the dusky field rat for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the dusky field rat endangered?
The dusky field rat is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long is the dusky field rat pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 21.9 days.
What kind of animal is the dusky field rat?
The dusky field rat (Rattus sordidus) 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.
- 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). Dusky field rat (Rattus sordidus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/dusky-field-rat
“Dusky field rat (Rattus sordidus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/dusky-field-rat.
@misc{dusky_field_rat_2026,
title = {Dusky field rat (Rattus sordidus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/dusky-field-rat},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}