Everything about The Black Rat totally explained
The
Black Rat (
Rattus rattus), also known as the
Asian black rat,
Ship Rat,
Roof Rat or
House Rat, is a common long-tailed
rodent of the genus
Rattus (rats) in the subfamily
Murinae (murine rodents). The species originated in tropical
Asia and spread through the Near East in
Roman times before reaching
Europe by the
6th century and spreading with
Europeans across the world. Today it's again largely confined to warmer areas, having been supplanted by the
Brown Rat (
Rattus norvegicus) in cooler regions.
Despite its name, it exhibits several colour forms. Compared to the Brown Rat, it's a poorer swimmer, but more agile and a better climber, tending even to flee upwards. It is usually black to light brown in colour with a lighter underside. A typical rat will be 15 to 20 cm long with a further 20 cm of tail. It is
nocturnal and
omnivorous, with a preference for grains. In a suitable environment it'll breed throughout the year, with a female producing three to six litters of up to ten young. Females may regulate their production of offspring during times when food is scarce, throwing as few as only one litter a year.
R. rattus lives for about 2-3 years. Social groups of up to sixty can be formed.
R. rattus has been known to fall victim of a number of diseases, of which
bubonic plague (via the
rat flea),
typhus,
toxoplasmosis and
trichinosis are the most well known.
It is sometimes, but rarely, kept as a pet. Most pet rats (or
fancy rats) are descendents of the brown rat.
In New Zealand, ship rats have an internationally unusual distribution and importance, in that they're utterly pervasive through native forests, scrublands, and urban parklands. This is typical only of oceanic islands which lack native mammals, especially rodents. Throughout most of the world, ship rats are found only in disturbed habitats near people, mainly near the coast. Ship rats are the most frequent predator of small forest birds, seeds, invertebrates, and perhaps lizards in New Zealand forests, and are key ecosystem changers. Controlling their abundance on usefully large areas of the New Zealand mainland is a crucial current challenge for conservation managers.
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