Brown Rat vs Common dung beetle

Rattus norvegicus compared with Aphodius fimetarius

Key Differences

• Brown Rat is Least Concern while Common dung beetle is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Brown Rat	Common dung beetle
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Rodentia (Rodents)	Coleoptera (Beetles)
Family	Muridae (Mice & Rats)	Scarabaeidae
Genus	Rattus	Aphodius
Species	Rattus norvegicus	Aphodius fimetarius

Evolutionary Relationship

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

Conservation Status

Brown Rat

LC — Least Concern

Common dung beetle

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Brown Rat	Common dung beetle
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 dung beetle

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (6 countries) and North America (Canada, 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 dung beetle

Common dung beetle (Aphodius fimetarius) is classified as Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List. Not yet evaluated against IUCN Red List criteria. Conservation status remains to be determined.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 8 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇨🇦 Canada 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇨🇭 Switzerland 🇺🇸 United States