Rattus norvegicus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	MAMMALIA	RODENTIA	MURIDAE

Scientific Name:

Rattus norvegicus

Species Authority:

(Berkenhout, 1769)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Brown Rat

Synonym/s:

Rattus caraco Pallas, 1779

Rattus caspius Oken, 1816

Rattus decimallus Pallas, 1779

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2008

Assessor/s

Ruedas, L.

Evaluator/s:

Amori, G. (Small Nonvolant Mammal Red List Authority) & Tsytsulina, K. (Global Mammal Assessment Team)

Justification:
A common species with no major threats.

History:

1996

–

Lower Risk/least concern (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species was originally native to south-east Siberia, north-east China and parts of Japan, but it occurs worldwide as an introduced species.
Countries:	Native: China; Japan; Russian Federation Introduced: Albania; Armenia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Brunei Darussalam; Bulgaria; Cambodia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Egypt; Estonia; Finland; France; Georgia; Germany; Greece; Guernsey; Hungary; Iceland; Indonesia; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Ireland; Isle of Man; Israel; Italy; Jersey; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Latvia; Lebanon; Lithuania; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Malaysia; Malta; Mongolia; Montenegro; Myanmar; Netherlands; Norway; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Poland; Portugal; Romania; San Marino; Singapore; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Syrian Arab Republic; Tajikistan; Thailand; Turkey; Ukraine; United Kingdom; Uzbekistan; Viet Nam
Range Map:	(click map to view full version)

Population [top]

Population:	Often abundant in suitable habitat (e.g. in urban areas).
Population Trend:	Stable

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This species is present in lowland and coastal regions wherever humans are. It is more common in colder climates (e.g. at higher northern and southern latitudes); in warmer and tropical regions it is restricted to habitats highly modified by humans (sewers, buildings, ports, etc.). It does not compete with R. rattus, as the latter is scansorial/arboreal whereas R. norvegicus is strictly terrestrial.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Habitat and Ecology:

This species is present in lowland and coastal regions wherever humans are. It is more common in colder climates (e.g. at higher northern and southern latitudes); in warmer and tropical regions it is restricted to habitats highly modified by humans (sewers, buildings, ports, etc.). It does not compete with R. rattus, as the latter is scansorial/arboreal whereas R. norvegicus is strictly terrestrial.

Systems:

Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	There are no major threats to this species.

Major Threat(s):

There are no major threats to this species.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	None in place and none required.

Conservation Actions:

None in place and none required.

Citation:	Ruedas, L. 2008. Rattus norvegicus. In: IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 09 January 2009.
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