Black-grass vs Brown Rat

Alopecurus myosuroides compared with Rattus norvegicus

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Black-grass	Brown Rat
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Liliopsida (Monocots)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Poales (Grasses)	Rodentia (Rodents)
Family	Poaceae (Grass Family)	Muridae (Mice & Rats)
Genus	Alopecurus	Rattus
Species	Alopecurus myosuroides	Rattus norvegicus

Conservation Status

Black-grass

LC — Least Concern

Brown Rat

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Black-grass	Brown Rat
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Black-grass

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and montane grasslands and shrublands within the Neotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Japan, Jordan, Taiwan), Europe (22 countries), North America (Canada, Mexico, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia), and South America (Chile, Peru).

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).

Black-grass

The Black-grass (Alopecurus myosuroides) is a species in the genus Alopecurus. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and montane grasslands and shrublands within the Neotropic biogeographic realm.

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 31 countries:

🇦🇺 Australia 🇧🇾 Belarus 🇧🇪 Belgium 🇨🇦 Canada 🇨🇱 Chile 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇪🇪 Estonia 🇫🇮 Finland 🇫🇷 France 🇩🇪 Germany 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇮🇪 Ireland 🇯🇵 Japan 🇯🇴 Jordan 🇱🇻 Latvia 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein 🇱🇹 Lithuania 🇲🇽 Mexico 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇪 Peru 🇵🇱 Poland 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇷🇺 Russia 🇸🇰 Slovakia 🇪🇸 Spain 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇹🇼 Taiwan 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 🇺🇸 United States