Bisamratte vs Brown Rat

Ondatra zibethicus compared with Rattus norvegicus

Key Differences

• Bisamratte is Not Evaluated while Brown Rat is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Bisamratte	Brown Rat
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Mammalia (Mammals)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order same	Rodentia (Rodents)	Rodentia (Rodents)
Family	Cricetidae	Muridae (Mice & Rats)
Genus	Ondatra	Rattus
Species	Ondatra zibethicus	Rattus norvegicus

Evolutionary Relationship

Bisamratte and Brown Rat share a common ancestor at the Order level: Rodentia. (Rodents)

Conservation Status

Bisamratte

NE — Not Evaluated

Brown Rat

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Bisamratte	Brown Rat
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Bisamratte

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (8 countries), Europe (37 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile).

Brown Rat

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 10 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (11 countries), Asia (15 countries), Europe (41 countries), North America (16 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (10 countries), and South America (10 countries).

Bisamratte

The Bisamratte (Ondatra zibethicus) is a species in the genus Ondatra. Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Brown Rat

Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus) is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant across its range, with stable populations and no immediate conservation concerns.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 44 countries:

🇦🇱 Albania 🇦🇷 Argentina 🇦🇹 Austria 🇧🇾 Belarus 🇧🇪 Belgium 🇧🇴 Bolivia 🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 🇨🇱 Chile 🇭🇷 Croatia 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇪🇪 Estonia 🇫🇮 Finland 🇫🇷 France 🇩🇪 Germany 🇬🇷 Greece 🇭🇺 Hungary 🇮🇪 Ireland 🇮🇹 Italy 🇯🇵 Japan 🇱🇻 Latvia 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein 🇱🇹 Lithuania 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 🇲🇩 Moldova 🇲🇳 Mongolia 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇲🇰 North Macedonia 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇱 Poland 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇷🇴 Romania 🇷🇺 Russia 🇷🇸 Serbia 🇸🇰 Slovakia 🇸🇮 Slovenia 🇪🇸 Spain 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇨🇭 Switzerland 🇹🇯 Tajikistan 🇺🇦 Ukraine 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 🇺🇸 United States