Brown Rat vs hemlock water-dropwort

Rattus norvegicus compared with Oenanthe crocata

Key Differences

• Brown Rat is Least Concern while hemlock water-dropwort is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Brown Rat	hemlock water-dropwort
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Rodentia (Rodents)	Passeriformes (Songbirds)
Family	Muridae (Mice & Rats)	Muscicapidae
Genus	Rattus	Oenanthe
Species	Rattus norvegicus	Oenanthe crocata

Evolutionary Relationship

Brown Rat and hemlock water-dropwort share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Chordata. (Chordates)

Conservation Status

Brown Rat

LC — Least Concern

hemlock water-dropwort

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Brown Rat	hemlock water-dropwort
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).

hemlock water-dropwort

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, temperate grasslands and steppes, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 4 distinct biome types within the Neotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Distributed across Argentina, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, and Sweden. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

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 5 countries:

🇦🇷 Argentina 🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇸🇪 Sweden