Brown Rat vs Common Blue

Rattus norvegicus compared with Polyommatus icarus

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Brown Rat	Common Blue
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Rodentia (Rodents)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family	Muridae (Mice & Rats)	Lycaenidae
Genus	Rattus	Polyommatus
Species	Rattus norvegicus	Polyommatus icarus

Evolutionary Relationship

Brown Rat and Common Blue share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Brown Rat

LC — Least Concern

Common Blue

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Brown Rat	Common Blue
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

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).

Common Blue

Habitat

Inhabits Mediterranean forests and woodlands within the Palearctic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Cyprus), Europe (40 countries), and North America (United States).

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.

Common Blue

Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) 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 40 countries:

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