Brown Rat vs Prickly Russian Thistle

Rattus norvegicus compared with Salsola tragus

Key Differences

• Brown Rat is Least Concern while Prickly Russian Thistle is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Brown Rat	Prickly Russian Thistle
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Rodentia (Rodents)	Caryophyllales (Caryophyllales)
Family	Muridae (Mice & Rats)	Amaranthaceae
Genus	Rattus	Salsola
Species	Rattus norvegicus	Salsola tragus

Conservation Status

Brown Rat

LC — Least Concern

Prickly Russian Thistle

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Brown Rat	Prickly Russian Thistle
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).

Prickly Russian Thistle

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Lesotho, South Africa), Europe (8 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.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 12 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇨🇦 Canada 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇩🇪 Germany 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇱🇸 Lesotho 🇱🇹 Lithuania 🇳🇴 Norway 🇷🇺 Russia 🇿🇦 South Africa 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇺🇸 United States