Rodent is a broad category or order of mammals called Rodentia, while rat is a specific type of rodent within that order, so all rats are rodents but not all rodents are rats. Rodentia is the largest order of mammals, containing about 40 percent of all mammal species, characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in upper and lower jaws that must be kept short by gnawing. Animals classified as rodents include mice, rats, squirrels, chipmunks, beavers, capybaras, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, porcupines, chinchillas, voles, and many others. Rats specifically refer to medium-sized rodents in the genus Rattus, most commonly Norway rats Rattus norvegicus and roof rats Rattus rattus which are the main pest rats in homes, as well as other species like pack rats. So rat is a much narrower term than rodent. In terms of size, rats are larger than mice, with rats typically seven to nine inches long excluding tail and weighing five to eighteen ounces, while many rodents like mice are much smaller and others like capybaras are much larger. When people say they have a rodent problem, they could mean any rodent, but when they say they have a rat problem they mean specifically rats, which require larger traps and different exclusion methods than mice.
1 votes
Marked as accepted