Favorite Images of Rats

A list of my favorite images of rats.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat

Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea.

"True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat (Rattus rattus) and the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus).

Many members of other rodent genera and families are also referred to as rats, and share many characteristics with true rats.

Rats are typically distinguished from mice by their size. Generally, when someone discovers a large muroid rodent, its common name includes the term rat, while if it is smaller, the name includes the term mouse.

The muroid family is broad and complex, and the common terms rat and mouse are not taxonomically specific. Scientifically, the terms are not confined to members of the Rattus and Mus genera, for example, the pack rat and cotton mouse.

Male rats are called bucks, unmated females are called does, pregnant or parent females are called dams and infants are called kittens or pups. A group of rats is referred to as a mischief.

The average lifespan of any given rat depends on which species is being discussed, but many only live about a year due to predation.

The black and brown rats diverged from other Old World rats during the beginning of the Pleistocene in the forests of Asia.