Floating Fern vs Polynesian rat

Salvinia natans compared with Rattus exulans

Key Differences

• Floating Fern is Not Evaluated while Polynesian rat is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Floating Fern	Polynesian rat
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Tracheophyta	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Salviniales (Salviniales)	Rodentia (Rodents)
Family	Salviniaceae	Muridae (Mice & Rats)
Genus	Salvinia	Rattus
Species	Salvinia natans	Rattus exulans

Conservation Status

Floating Fern

NE — Not Evaluated

Polynesian rat

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Floating Fern	Polynesian rat
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Floating Fern

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (4 countries), Europe (9 countries), North America (Honduras), and Oceania and the Pacific (Australia).

Polynesian rat

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical coniferous forests, among 4 distinct biome types spanning the Australasia and Indomalayan realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (6 countries), Europe (United Kingdom), North America (United States), Oceania and the Pacific (11 countries), and South America (Chile).

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 3 countries:

🇦🇺 Australia 🇹🇼 Taiwan 🇬🇧 United Kingdom