Nillu rat
Rattus montanus Phillips, 1932
The nillu rat (Rattus montanus) is a species in the family Muridae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh about 136 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.
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Quick facts about the nillu rat
- Weight
- 136 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
- Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the nillu rat live?
Not recorded
What is the nillu rat?
The Nillu rat or Sri Lankan mountain rat (Rattus montanus) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.
It is found only in Sri Lanka where it is known as நில்ளு எலி (Nillu Eli) in Tamil and නෙලූ මීයා(Nelu Meeya) in Sinhalese.
From the Wikipedia article “Nillu rat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nillu_rat&oldid=1382876327), 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 nillu rat endangered?
The nillu rat is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- 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 Endangered species. What the categories mean.
How is the nillu rat classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyMuridae
- genusRattus
- SpeciesRattus montanus Phillips, 1932
Other names and names in other languages (16)
- Nellu ratEnglish
- Nellu ratEnglish
- Sri Lankan mountain ratEnglish
- Sri Lankan mountain ratEnglish
- srilankanvuorirottaFinnish
- Ratto di montagna dello Sri LankaItalian
- スリランカクマネズミJapanese
- NillubergratDutch
- szczur górskiPolish
- Горная крысаRussian
- නෙලූ මීයාSinhala
- Kelle-miyaSinhala
- Nelu MeeyaSinhala
- Nillu EliTamil
- நில்ளு எலிTamil
- Kart’ ElliTamil
Relatives of the nillu 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
CompareNillu rat vs Brown ratNillu rat vs Black ratNillu rat vs Polynesian ratNillu rat vs Ricefield rat
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the nillu rat?
An adult nillu rat weighs 136 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the nillu rat endangered?
The nillu rat is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
What kind of animal is the nillu rat?
The nillu rat (Rattus montanus) 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 - 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).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Nillu rat (Rattus montanus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/nillu-rat
“Nillu rat (Rattus montanus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/nillu-rat.
@misc{nillu_rat_2026,
title = {Nillu rat (Rattus montanus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/nillu-rat},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}