Rats are medium-sized rodents with long tails, primarily found in the genus Rattus. Other genera that include rat species are Neotoma (pack rats), Bandicota (bandicoot rats), and Dipodomys (kangaroo rats).
Rats are distinguished from mice by their larger size, with “rat” typically used for larger muroids and “mouse” for smaller ones. The terms are not strictly taxonomic. There are currently 56 known rat species worldwide.
