Editing Rat (section)

==<span class="anchor" id="Species"></span>Species and description<!-- This Anchor tag serves to provide a permanent target for incoming section links. Please do not remove it, nor modify it, except to add another appropriate anchor. If you modify the section title, please anchor the old title. It is always best to anchor an old section header that has been changed so that links to it will not be broken. See [[Template:Anchor]] for details. This text is produced using {{subst:Anchor comment}} -->==
[[File:Rat in a suburban Vancouver driveway.jpg|thumb|left|A rat in a [[suburb]] of [[Vancouver]]]][[File:Black Rat skeleton.jpg|thumb|Skeleton of a black rat (''[[Black rat|Rattus rattus]]'') on display at the [[Museum of Osteology]]|left]]
The best-known rat [[species]] are the [[black rat]] (''Rattus rattus'') and the [[brown rat]] (''Rattus norvegicus''). This group, generally known as the [[Old World]] rats or true rats, originated in [[Asia]]. Rats are bigger than most Old World [[mouse|mice]], which are their relatives, but seldom weigh over {{convert|500|g|oz|frac=2}} in the wild.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livescience.com/28028-mice.html|title=Habits, Habitat & Types of Mice|work=Live Science|date=26 June 2014|access-date=23 May 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524081143/http://www.livescience.com/28028-mice.html|archive-date=24 May 2015}}</ref>

The term ''rat'' is also used in the names of other small [[mammals]] that are not true rats. Examples include the North American [[pack rats]] (aka wood rats<ref name="Britannica Concise Encyclopedia">{{Cite book|title=Britannica Concise Encyclopedia|publisher=Britannica Digital Learning|year=2017|location=Chicago, IL|via=Credo Reference}}</ref>) and a number of species loosely called [[kangaroo rats]].<ref name="Britannica Concise Encyclopedia" /> Rats such as the [[bandicoot rat]] (''Bandicota bengalensis'') are [[murine]] rodents related to true rats but are not members of the genus ''Rattus''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bandicota Gray, 1873 |url=https://www.gbif.org/species/2437726 |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=www.gbif.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=ITIS - Report: Bandicota bengalensis |url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=585160#null |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=www.itis.gov}}</ref>

Male rats are called ''bucks''; unmated females, ''does'', pregnant or parent females, ''dams''; and infants, ''kittens'' or ''pups''. A group of rats is referred to as a ''mischief''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/creaturefeatures/facts/rats.htm|title=Creature Feature Rats|work=ABC.net.au|access-date=23 May 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524080725/http://www.abc.net.au/creaturefeatures/facts/rats.htm|archive-date=24 May 2015}}</ref>

The common species are opportunistic survivors and often live with and near [[humans]]; therefore, they are known as [[commensalism|commensals]]. They may cause substantial food losses, especially in developing countries.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Meerburg |first1=Bastiaan G |last2=Singleton |first2=Grant R |last3=Leirs |first3=Herwig |title=The Year of the Rat ends—time to fight hunger! |journal=Pest Management Science |date=April 2009 |volume=65 |issue=4 |pages=351–352 |doi=10.1002/ps.1718 |pmid=19206089 }}</ref> However, the widely distributed and problematic commensal species of rats are a minority in this diverse genus. Many species of rats are [[Endemic (ecology)|island endemics]], some of which have become [[endangered species|endangered]] due to habitat loss or competition with the brown, black, or [[Polynesian rat]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Competition in an invaded rodent community reveals black rats as a threat to native bush rats in littoral rainforest of south-eastern Australia|journal= Journal of Applied Ecology|volume=46|issue=6|pages=1239–1247|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2664.2009.01735.x|year=2009|last1=Stokes|first1=Vicki L.|last2=Banks|first2=Peter B.|last3=Pech|first3=Roger P.|last4=Spratt|first4=David M.|bibcode= 2009JApEc..46.1239S|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Wild rodents, including rats, can carry many different [[zoonotic]] pathogens, such as ''[[Leptospira]]'', ''[[Toxoplasma gondii]]'', and ''[[Campylobacter]]''.<ref name="Meerburg BG, Singleton GR, Kijlstra A 2009">{{cite journal |vauthors=Meerburg BG, Singleton GR, Kijlstra A |title=Rodent-borne diseases and their risks for public health|journal=Crit Rev Microbiol|volume=35 |issue=3|year=2009 |pmid=19548807|doi=10.1080/10408410902989837|pages=221–70 }}</ref> The [[Black Death]] is traditionally believed to have been caused by the microorganism ''[[Yersinia pestis]]'', carried by the tropical rat flea (''[[Xenopsylla cheopis]]''), which preyed on black rats living in European cities during the epidemic outbreaks of the [[Middle Ages]]; these rats were used as transport hosts. Another zoonotic disease linked to the rat is [[foot-and-mouth disease]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Capel-Edwards |first=Maureen |title=Foot-and-mouth disease in the brown rat |date=October 1970 |journal=Journal of Comparative Pathology |volume=80 |issue=4 |pages=543–548 |doi=10.1016/0021-9975(70)90051-4|pmid=4321688 }}</ref>

Rats become sexually mature at age 6 weeks, but reach social maturity at about 5 to 6 months of age. The average lifespan of rats varies by species, but many only live about a year due to predation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ratbehavior.org/RatYears.htm|title=How old is a rat in human years?|work=RatBehavior.org|access-date=23 May 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150612010521/http://www.ratbehavior.org/RatYears.htm|archive-date=12 June 2015}}</ref>

The black and brown rats diverged from other [[Murinae|Old World rats]] in the forests of Asia during the beginning of the [[Pleistocene]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Aplin |first1=Ken P. |last2=Suzuki |first2=Hitoshi |last3=Chinen |first3=Alejandro A. |last4=Chesser |first4=R. Terry |last5=ten Have |first5=José |last6=Donnellan |first6=Stephen C. |last7=Austin |first7=Jeremy |last8=Frost |first8=Angela |last9=Gonzalez |first9=Jean Paul |last10=Herbreteau |first10=Vincent |last11=Catzeflis |first11=Francois |last12=Soubrier |first12=Julien |last13=Fang |first13=Yin-Ping |last14=Robins |first14=Judith |last15=Matisoo-Smith |first15=Elizabeth |last16=Bastos |first16=Amanda D. S. |last17=Maryanto |first17=Ibnu |last18=Sinaga |first18=Martua H. |last19=Denys |first19=Christiane |last20=Van Den Bussche |first20=Ronald A. |last21=Conroy |first21=Chris |last22=Rowe |first22=Kevin |last23=Cooper |first23=Alan |display-authors=6 |title=Multiple Geographic Origins of Commensalism and Complex Dispersal History of Black Rats |date=November 2011 |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=6 |number=11 |page=e26357 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0026357 |pmid=22073158 |pmc=3206810 |bibcode=2011PLoSO...626357A |doi-access=free }}</ref>