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Story about rats

The rat, is a medium-sized rodent. Rats are omnivores, they eat lots of different types of food. Most rats are in the genus Rattus. There are about 56 different species of rats.

The best known rats are the black rat (Rattus rattus), and the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus). These two are known as Old World rats. The group has its origins in Asia.

Usually rats are bigger than mice. Rats are large muroid rodents, mice are small ones. The muroid family is very large and complex. That means the terms rat and mouse are nottaxonomically precise. A large muroid will often have rat in its name; a small one will often be called mouse. Besides members of the Rattus and Mus genera, others sometimes get these names, for example the pack rat and cotton mouse.