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The term rat is also used in the names of other small mammals that are not true rats. Examples include the North American pack rats (aka wood rats [3]) and a number of species loosely called kangaroo rats. [3] Rats such as the bandicoot rat (Bandicota bengalensis) are murine rodents related to true rats but are not members of the genus Rattus ...
Breeding female naked mole-rats can bear and successfully rear litters that are far more numerous than their mammae because young take turns nursing from the same mammary and breeding females and pups are fed and protected by colony mates, enabling queens to concentrate their reproductive efforts on gestation and lactation. [65]
Brown rats usually live in small colonies with up to six females sharing a burrow and one male defending a territory around the burrow. At high population densities, this system breaks down and males show a hierarchical system of dominance with overlapping ranges. Female offspring remain in the colony while male young disperse. [42]
In the English language, many animals have different names depending on whether they are male, female, young, domesticated, or in groups. The best-known source of many English words used for collective groupings of animals is The Book of Saint Albans , an essay on hunting published in 1486 and attributed to Juliana Berners . [ 1 ]
It appears that kangaroo rats can assess their local conditions and adjust their reproductive efforts accordingly. [18] Merriam's kangaroo rats breed between December and May and produce two or three litters per year. [3] Before mating, the male and female will perform nasal-anal circling until the female stops and allows the male to mount her.
A Norway rat can have litters from 6 to 10 young, and can be of adult breeding age in as little as three to four months, according to the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Conilurus albipes - white-footed rabbit rat (extinct) Conilurus capricornensis - Capricorn rabbit rat (extinct) Conilurus penicillatus - brush-tailed rabbit rat; Genus Coryphomys. Coryphomys buehleri - Buehler's rat (extinct) Coryphomys musseri - Timor giant rat (extinct) Genus Crateromys. Crateromys australis - Dinagat bushy-tailed cloud rat
In most female mammals the average litter size is about half the number of mammae. [1] Presumably this enables females to successfully nurse litters even if some mammae fail to produce milk. Naked mole-rats break this "one-half rule" – field caught and lab born litters averaged 11 to 12 pups, and numbers of mammae on wild and captive females ...