What Family Does a Rat Belong to?
WouterRats are rodents that are members of the muroid family. These species range from large to small and live in both tropical and temperate climates. They are characterized by their long tails and small body size. They are also closely related to each other, and they can interbreed.
Rats live in packs and usually stick together. Each pack will have a dominant male and female. Brown rats are generally the leader of the pack and are led by the largest male. Other rat species may have several dominant males or females in a pack. Rats are omnivorous and eat many different types of food, including human flesh. Some species feed exclusively on human food, while others scavenge for unprotected food.
Rats are the largest rodents in the world. They typically weigh from three to ten ounces and are about 6 to eight inches long. For comparison, a 10-ounce rat is the size of a can of soup, and a seven-inch-long rat is about half the height of a bowling pin. Rats are smaller than mice, but the largest rat in the world is the Bosavi woolly rat, which was discovered in Papua New Guinea’s rainforests in 2009. The Bosavi woolly rat is approximately twice the size of a cat, and weighs 3.3 pounds (1.25 kilograms). Another species of rat is the Osgood’s Vietnamese rat, which is 5 to seven inches (12 to 17 centimeters) long and weighs up to five pounds (one
Rats come in several breeds, and their appearance differs greatly from one another. Some have different markings, while others have no fur at all. Some even have long or short tails. Some are even bred with different configurations of these traits, resulting in a wide variety of possible combinations of traits and coloration.
