Rattus rattus
black rat (Rattus rattus)
Description: common long-tailed rodent of the genus Rattus (rats) in the subfamily Murinae (murine rodents). The species originated in tropical Asia and spread through the Near East in Roman times before reaching Europe by the 1st century and spreading with Europeans across the world. Black rats are generalist omnivores. They are serious pests in nature as they eat birds and insects, and to farmers as they eat a wide range of agricultural crops. They are vectors of many diseases including the bacterium Yersinia pestis, an agent of bubonic plague.
