Rats come in more types than many people expect. The answer to what are the types of rat depends on whether you mean wild species, pet varieties, or laboratory animals.
Scientists usually use rat for members of the genus Rattus. Everyday speech can also include several unrelated rodent species that people call rats.
You can group rats into a few practical categories: true Rattus species, commonly seen wild urban rats, pet and fancy rats, and lab rats bred for research. That simple split helps you tell apart animals that look similar but live very different lives.
The Main Rat Groups People Usually Mean
Most people use “rat” for a handful of familiar species, especially the brown rat and black rat. In biology, the word also covers many rattus species in the family Muridae, plus a few rodents people label as rats even when they belong to other groups.
True Rats In The Genus Rattus
The core group is the genus Rattus, which includes dozens of species native to Asia and nearby islands, according to Britannica’s rat overview. The best-known member is rattus norvegicus, the Norway rat, also called the brown rat.
Another familiar species is rattus rattus, the black rat. People also call it the roof rat, ship rat, or house rat.
The Polynesian rat, rattus exulans, is another true rat that spread widely with people.
The Best-Known Commensal Species
The brown rat and black rat live close to people and are the species most often meant when you hear about city rats. These classic commensal rat species benefit from human food and shelter.
They are also the species most likely to show up in homes, ports, basements, warehouses, and sewers.
Other Animals Commonly Called Rats
Plenty of rodents outside Rattus get called rats in everyday speech. Examples include pack rat or woodrat species in neotoma, kangaroo rat species in dipodomys, and cotton rat species in sigmodon such as sigmodon hispidus.
Animals in other rodent groups like echimyidae may also be called rats. People may even casually compare a hamster or muskrat to a rat because the body shape looks similar.
How To Tell Common Wild And Urban Species Apart
You can usually sort wild rats and urban rats by body shape, tail length, and where they spend their time. Brown rats are heavier, black rats are slimmer and better climbers.
Some regional field rats look close enough to cause confusion.
Brown Rat Vs. Black Rat
The brown rat, also known as the Norway rat, is stockier, with a heavier body, smaller ears, and a tail that is usually shorter than its head-and-body length.
The black rat, or roof rat, is slimmer, with larger ears, a more pointed face, and a tail that is often longer than its body.
Brown rats are common in basements, alleys, and sewers. Black rats spend more time above ground in attics, trees, rafters, and vines.
That difference makes roof rat vs. brown rat one of the easiest field IDs in North America.
Field, Sewer, And Roof-Dwelling Rats
People often use names like sewer rat, wharf rat, field rat, or house rat to describe where a rat lives rather than its exact species.
A brown rat may be called a sewer rat. A black rat may be called a roof rat or wharf rat.
These names help with pest control, even though they are not always formal species names.
Lesser-Known Regional Species
Outside the usual city rats, many local species look rat-like and live in fields, forests, or wetlands.
Examples include rattus fuscipes the bush rat, rattus argentiventer the rice-field rat, and rattus lutreolus the swamp rat.
Species sometimes called bandicoot rats belong to the genus bandicota, including bandicota bengalensis.
Other regional examples include the Himalayan field rat, the Turkestan rat, the Sikkim rat, and the Philippine forest rat.
Many of these species act as invasive species, agricultural pests, or seed dispersers. Some build middens or nest in dense cover.
Pet, Fancy, And Domesticated Varieties
Pet rats are not separate species. They are domesticated forms and selectively bred varieties.
If you hear people talk about fancy rats, they usually mean pet rats descended from the brown rat, rattus norvegicus.
What A Pet Rat Actually Is
A pet rat is usually a domesticated rat kept for companionship, not a wild-caught animal.
Most pet rats are bred for calm temperaments, handling, and coat or color variety.
In pet trade language, “fancy rat” usually means a domesticated brown rat rather than a wild species.
Common Fancy Rat Types
Common variety names include dumbo rat and rex rat.
Dumbo rats have low-set, side-positioned ears. Rex rats have a curly or wavy coat texture.
Color, markings, and coat type matter more than breed in the dog or cat sense.
As noted by PetMD, pet rats are varieties, not breeds, because they all come from the same species.
Pet Care Terms And Clubs
The AFRMA, or American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association, is one of the best-known clubs connected with rat variety standards.
These clubs often focus on appearance, markings, and coat type rather than true species differences.
A fancy rat can look very different from a wild brown rat while still being the same species.
Lab Rats And Working Rats
Researchers breed lab rats for research. Trainers may work with rats for tasks like detection or conservation.
People use “lab rat” for any research animal, yet many research animals belong to only a few standardized rat strains.
Why Most Laboratory Rats Are Norway Rats
A laboratory rat is usually a rattus norvegicus, because researchers have studied this species well, and it breeds easily.
The rat genome is well mapped, which makes the species valuable in genetics and biomedical work.
Common Research Strains
Common rat strains include Wistar rats, Sprague-Dawley rats, and Long-Evans rats.
These strains are not different species. Scientists selectively breed them for consistent research results.
As described in laboratory animal resources, these are among the most frequently used rat models.
Working Rats In Detection And Conservation
Some working rats perform real-world tasks instead of laboratory study.
The African giant pouched rat, also called the Gambian pouched rat, belongs to cricetomys and cricetomys gambianus rather than Rattus.
Organizations like APOPO use these pouched rats for detection work.
Because rats can carry risks such as bubonic plague, leptospirosis, and hantavirus, pest control and research settings enforce strict breeding and handling standards.
