Categories
Litter Size

How many babies does a Marsh rice rat have at once? (litter size)

How many baby Marsh rice rats are in a litter?

A Marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) usually gives birth to around 4 babies.

Each of those little ones spend around 24 days as a fetus before they are released into the wild. Upon birth, they weight 3 grams (0.01 lbs) and measure 2.37 meter (7′ 10″). They are a member of the Muridae family (genus: Oryzomys). An adult Marsh rice rat grows up to a size of 13.3 cm (0′ 6″).

To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.

The average litter size of a Marsh rice rat is 4

The marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) is a semiaquatic North American rodent in the family Cricetidae. It usually occurs in wetland habitats, such as swamps and salt marshes. It is found mostly in the eastern and southern United States, from New Jersey and Kansas south to Florida and northeasternmost Tamaulipas, Mexico; its range previously extended further west and north, where it may have been a commensal in corn-cultivating communities. Weighing about 40 to 80 g (1.4 to 2.8 oz), the marsh rice rat is a medium-sized rodent that resembles the common black and brown rat. The upperparts are generally gray-brown, but are reddish in many Florida populations. The feet show several specializations for life in the water. The skull is large and flattened, and is short at the front.John Bachman discovered the marsh rice rat in 1816, and it was formally described in 1837. Several subspecies have been described since the 1890s, mainly from Florida, but disagreement exists over their validity. The Florida Keys population is sometimes classified as a different species, the silver rice rat (Oryzomys argentatus). Data from the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene indicate a deep divergence between populations east of Mississippi and those further west, which suggests that the western populations may be recognized as a separate species, Oryzomys texensis. The species is part of the genus Oryzomys, which also includes several others occurring further south in Mexico, Central America, and northwestern South America, some of which have previously been regarded as subspecies of the marsh rice rat. One, Oryzomys couesi, occurs with the marsh rice rat in Tamaulipas and southern Texas.The marsh rice rat is active during the night, makes nests of sedge and grass, and occasionally builds runways. Its diverse diet includes plants, fungi, and a variety of animals. Population densities are usually below 10 per ha (four per acre) and home ranges vary from 0.23 to 0.37 ha (0.57 to 0.91 acres), depending on sex and geography. Litters of generally three to five young are born after a pregnancy around 25 days, mainly during the summer. Newborns are helpless at birth, but are weaned after a few weeks. Several animals prey on the marsh rice rat, including the barn owl, and it usually lives for less than a year in the wild. It is infected by many different parasites and harbors a hantavirus that also infects humans. The species is not of conservation concern, but some populations are threatened.

Other animals of the family Muridae

Marsh rice rat is a member of the Muridae, as are these animals:

Animals that share a litter size with Marsh rice rat

Those animals also give birth to 4 babies at once:

Animals that get as old as a Marsh rice rat

Other animals that usually reach the age of 2.33 years:

Animals with the same weight as a Marsh rice rat

What other animals weight around 53 grams (0.12 lbs)?

Animals with the same size as a Marsh rice rat

Also reaching around 13.3 cm (0′ 6″) in size do these animals: