Brown Rat vs Oriental House Rat

Rattus norvegicus compared with Rattus tanezumi

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Brown Rat	Oriental House Rat
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Mammalia (Mammals)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order same	Rodentia (Rodents)	Rodentia (Rodents)
Family same	Muridae (Mice & Rats)	Muridae (Mice & Rats)
Genus same	Rattus	Rattus
Species	Rattus norvegicus	Rattus tanezumi

Evolutionary Relationship

Brown Rat and Oriental House Rat share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Rattus.

Conservation Status

Brown Rat

LC — Least Concern

Oriental House Rat

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Brown Rat	Oriental House Rat
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).

Oriental House Rat

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests within the Oceanian biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Eswatini, Lesotho, South Africa), Asia (Philippines, Taiwan), and Oceania and the Pacific (Kiribati).

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 4 countries:

🇱🇸 Lesotho 🇵🇭 Philippines 🇿🇦 South Africa 🇹🇼 Taiwan