Who is a rat's relative? - briefly
The rat’s nearest kin are other murid rodents, most notably the house mouse. Both species belong to the family Muridae and exhibit closely related anatomy and genetics.
Who is a rat's relative? - in detail
Rats belong to the order Rodentia and the family Muridae, subfamily Murinae. Their closest kin are other murine rodents that share the same subfamily and exhibit similar dental and skeletal structures.
- Mice (genus «Mus») – most widely studied murine relative, shares a common ancestor with rats about 12 million years ago.
- Voles (tribe «Arvicolini») – occupy similar ecological niches, diverged from murines roughly 15 million years ago.
- Gerbils (genus «Gerbillus») – adapted to arid environments, share the Murinae lineage.
- Hamsters (subfamily «Cricetinae») – although placed in a different subfamily, display comparable gnawing adaptations.
- Pocket mice (genus «Perognathus») – small murine species with overlapping habitats.
Genetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA confirm that rats and mice share over 95 % sequence similarity, reinforcing their status as immediate relatives. Morphologically, both exhibit continuously growing incisors, a feature characteristic of rodents, and possess comparable cranial musculature.
Fossil records indicate that the Murinae radiation began in the late Miocene, producing a diversification of species that includes the modern rat, mouse, and related forms. Ecologically, these animals occupy overlapping niches such as seed predation, waste consumption, and disease vectoring, which further illustrates their close biological relationship.
Scientific nomenclature consistently places the common rat (species «Rattus rattus» and «Rattus norvegicus») within the same genus as no other extant species, yet the genus shares the Murinae subfamily with the listed relatives, establishing a clear taxonomic connection.