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Mouse vs. Rat

Diffen › Science › Biology › Zoology › Animals

Mice have smaller heads and larger ears and eyes relative to the head
compared with rats. Both are rodents but they have some genetic differences
— rats have 21 pairs of chromosomes and mice have 20 chromosomal pairs.
The animals are often identified by the size of feces. Rats tend to have a
slightly longer life span compared with mice.

Comparison chart

Mouse Rat
Identification Small feces Larger feces
Method

Head Small, triangular, small relative to Short, stubby, broad, large

body relative to body

Ears Ears are large relative to the Ears are small relative to the
head. head.

Eyes Slightly bigger in relation to the Smaller in relation to head

head

Muzzle Narrow with sharp muzzle Large and blunt with wide muzzle

Tail A mouse is small and has a A rat is bigger and has a thicker
skinny tail. tail.

Digging burrows Mice do not dig deep and even if Rats dig deep and long burrows.
they do so, they may dig only to
about a foot.

Life Span 1.5 - 2.5 years 2-3 years

Genetic Mice have 20 chromosome pairs Rats have 21 chromosome pairs

Differences & 2.6 million base pairs & 2.75 million base pairs

Best known Common House Mouse (Mus Black Rat (Rattus Rattus); Brown
species Musculus) Rat (Rattus Norvegicus)

Romans call it Mus Minimus Mus Maximus

Spaniards call it Raton Rata

Contents: Mouse vs Rat

1 Introduction 1.2 What is a Rat?
1.1 What is a Mouse? 2 History
 2.1 Mouse 4.2 Rat
2.2 Rat
5 As food items
3 Description 5.1 Mouse
3.1 Mouse 5.2 Rat
3.2 Rat
6 As Pets
4 Eating Habits 6.1 Mouse
4.1 Mouse 6.2 Rat

Introduction
"Rat" and "mouse" are not scientific classifications. These words are common names
for rodents that look alike to the casual eye.

What is a Mouse?
Mouse is used to describe tiny, sparrow-sized rodents with long thin tails. As with rats,
there are many species of rodents called mice which may or may not be closely related
to each other: house mice, field mice, deer mice, smoky mice, spiny mice, and dormice
are all called mice.

What is a Rat?
Rat is used to describe medium-sized rodents with long thin tails. There are many
species of rodent that are called rats: kangaroo rats, cotton rats, Norway rats, black
rats, African pouched rats, naked mole rats, wood rats, pack rats, Polynesian rats, and
many others. These different rodent species may not be closely related to each other at
all!

Rats Vs. Mice- ClassyRodents

History
Mouse
Mouse-like species are among the oldest mammals. It has been proposed that higher
mammals evolved from rodent-like species many millions of years ago.Mice have been
known to humans since antiquity. The Romans differentiated poorly between mice and
rats, calling rats Mus Maximus (big mouse) and referring to mice as Mus Minimus (little
mouse). In Spanish similar term are in use: ratón for mouse and rata for
rat.Discoloration in mice was supposedly first noticed in China by 1100 BC, where a
white mouse was discovered. However, there is sufficient evidence to believe that white
mice were first noticed before that, in the times of the Greeks and Ancient Rome. The
word "mouse" and the word muscle are related. Muscle stems from musculus meaning
small mouse - possibly because of a similarity in shape. The word "mouse" is a
cognate of Sanskrit mush meaning 'to steal,' which is also cognate with mys in Old
Greek and mus in Latin.

Rat
True rodents first appear in the fossil record at the end of the Paleocene and earliest
Eocene in Asia and North America, about 54 million years ago. They are widely
considered to have originated in Asia. These original rodents were themselves
descended from rodent-like ancestors called anagalids, which also gave rise to the
Lagomorpha, or rabbit group. The species R. norvegicus, originated in the grasslands
of China and spread to Europe and eventually, in 1775, to the New World. Rats are
widely distributed over the globe, and this distribution is a recent phenomenon. Despite
their name, Norway rats originated in northern China. They hitched a ride with humans
and spread along trade routes to colonize the globe in just the last few centuries. The
rats' expansion is therefore extraordinarily recent from an evolutionary standpoint --
they haven't had time to specialize in their new local environments.

Description
Mouse
A mouse is a rodent that belongs to one of numerous species of small mammals. The
best known mouse species is the common house mouse. It is found in nearly all
countries and, like the laboratory mouse, serves as an important model organism in
biology. The American white-footed mouse and the deer mouse also sometimes live in
houses. Although they may live up to two years in the lab, the average mouse in the
wild lives only about 5 months, primarily due to heavy predation, the mouse is regarded
to be the third most successful mammalian species living on Earth today, after humans
and the rat. Mice can be harmful pests, damaging and eating crops and spreading
diseases through their parasites and feces. They usually have pointed snouts and
small ears. The body is typically elongated with slender, usually hairless tails, but
different types of mice show large variations.: total length 28-130 mm, mass 2.5 to
>34g. Mice can be found in forests, savannahs, grasslands and rocky habitats. Mice
build nests for protection and warmth, but species differ in their preferences.Most
species will construct nests of grass, fibers, and shredded material. Mice do hibernate.

Rat
Rats are various medium sized rodents. "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, R. norvegicus. A rat has an average life span of 2-3 years. Rats are distinguished
from mice by their size; rats generally have bodies longer than 12 cm (5 inches). The
best-known rat species are the Black Rat Rattus rattus and the Brown Rat R.
norvegicus. The group is generally known as the Old World rats or true rats, and
originated in Asia. Rats are bigger than most of their relatives, the Old World mice, but
seldom weigh over 500 grams in the wild. The common term "rat" is also used in the
names of other small mammals which are not true rats. Wild rats living in good
environments are typically healthy and robust animals. Wild rats living in cities may
suffer from poor diets and internal parasites and mites, but do not generally spread
disease to humans. Rats have a normal lifespan ranging from two to five years, though
three years is typical. Rats are intelligent animals and can be trained to use a litter box,
come when called, and perform a variety of tricks.

Eating Habits
Mouse
Mice are omnivores; they eat meat, the dead bodies of other mice, and have been
observed to self-cannibalise their tails during starvation. Mice eat grains, fruits, and
seeds for a regular diet, which is the main reason they damage crops. They are also
known to eat their own feces. Mice are social animals, preferring to live in groups.

Rat
Every rat's environment is filled with many potential foods and with many non-foods:
poisons (both natural and man-made), rocks, plastics and so forth. Their food choices
are influenced by social interactions that may take place far away from foraging sites.
They smell foods on the fur, whiskers and especially the breath of other rats and
strongly prefer the foods those rats had previously eaten.

As food items
Mouse
Humans have eaten mice since prehistoric times. They are still eaten as a delicacy
throughout eastern Zambia and northern Malawi, where they are an important source
of protein. A common use of mice is to feed many species of snakes, lizards,
tarantulas, and birds of prey. Mice also seem to be a desirable food item for a very
large variety of carnivores.

Rat
Rats, are edible by humans and are sometimes captured and eaten in emergency
situations. For some cultures, rats are considered a staple. Bandicoot rats are an
important food source among some peoples in India and Southeast Asia. Among the
reasons rat meat is not more widely utilized are the strong prohibitions against it in
Islamic and Jewish dietary laws, the prohibition of all meat by many followers in
Hinduism. As a food, rats are often a more-readily available source of protein than
other fauna. In some cultures, rats are limited as an acceptable form of food to a
particular social or economic class.

As Pets

Rats and Mice

Mouse
Mice have turned into a popular pet. Many people buy mice as companion pets. Some
benefits of having mice as pets are

Minimal shedding and allergens

Entertaining and affectionate
Inexpensive
Clean (contrary to popular belief)
Socially self-sufficient (when in a group of other mice)
Significantly less likely to bite than other rodent pets
Mice are quite intelligent given their size

Rat
Specially bred rats have been kept as pets at least since the late 19th century. Rats are
intelligent animals and can be trained to use a litter box, come when called, and
perform a variety of tricks. Pet rats are typically of variants of the species R.
Norvegicus, or Brown rat, but Black rats and Giant pouched rats are also known to be
kept. Pet rats behave differently than their wild relatives depending on how many
generations they have been removed, and when acquired from reliable sources, they
do not pose any more health risk than other, more common pets.

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Comments: Mouse vs Rat

6 Comments Sort by Newest

Add a comment...

Laura Hawkins · Depew High School

Anything that Uses the Bathroom on or by the food it intends to eat is not clean in my
books
Like · Reply · 1 · Oct 12, 2015 12:00pm

Axel Foley · Luanda, Angola

Only good rat/mouse is a dead one.
Like · Reply · 2 · Apr 26, 2015 10:31am

Jon Treadway · Cincinnati

One of my favorite pets as a kids was a rat-- she was really sweet and affectionate,
easy to take care of. I highly recommend a rat as a pet.
Like · Reply · Feb 19, 2015 9:31am

Ahmed Sherif Elfatairy · Cape Breton University

rats are outside, mice are inside.
Like · Reply · Mar 5, 2014 2:10am

Mary Hundley · Glendale High School

whick one would only have a white underbelly.
Like · Reply · Feb 18, 2013 6:24pm

Vishal Vivek · DPS

what are the differences of rat amd mouse what are its major differences?
Like · Reply · 1 · Oct 15, 2012 4:25pm

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Anonymous comments (2)

May 19, 2012, 5:50am

The lifespan of a mouse does NOT average 5 years. It's more like 1
year. Rats, 2-3 years avg, not uncommon to live to 5 or higher if well
taken care of. Record for oldest living rat was 7 yrs.

— 70.✗.✗.120

November 21, 2009, 6:39am

You need to switch these 2 discriptions :Size & Best known species.
You have them reversed for rat and mouse. Otherwise, very
informative

— 68.✗.✗.234

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