Categories
Animal Weight

How much does a Common rock rat weight?

It is hard to guess what a Common rock rat weights. But we have the answer:

An adult Common rock rat (Zyzomys argurus) on average weights 40 grams (0.09 lbs).

The Common rock rat is from the family Muridae (genus: Zyzomys). When reaching adult age, they grow up to 10.7 cm (0′ 5″). Usually, Common rock rats have 2 babies per litter.

As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.

The common rock rat (Zyzomys argurus) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Australia, where it lives in the rocky areas of woodlands, grasslands and low open forests, particularly on the talus, or scree, of cliff slopes. As a nocturnal animal, it spends the daytime nesting in cool rock crevices. Direct exposure to the sun can quickly result in heat stroke and death.The rock rat is an overall golden brown with white belly. It can weigh anywhere 25–65 grams, with a head to body length of 85–140 mm. The thick tail is 90–125 mm long and contains fat deposits. The tail is covered in overlapping scales and sparse hairs. The skin of the tail can easily be pulled off, allowing the animal to escape predators in some situations (this function is similar to that of lizard tail autotomy).They are sexually mature at 5 to 6 months of age. The females have 4 nipples but litters average 2 to 3 offspring. Gestation is about 35 days. By the 10th day, the offspring are covered in fur, and by the 12th day their eyes are open. They are weaned by 4 weeks of age. The life span of the Common Rock Rat in the wild is unknown, but an age of 4.2 years in captivity has been reported.Their diet consists of plant matter, grasses, seeds, fungi and insects.. One was observed in Maguk, Kakadu National Park, tucking into a plate of custard and rice pudding that someone had left unattended (Goodfellow, Fauna of Kakadu and the Top End, 1993).

Animals of the same family as a Common rock rat

We found other animals of the Muridae family:

Animals with the same weight as a Common rock rat

As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Zyzomys argurus:

Animals with the same size as a Common rock rat

Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Common rock rat:

Animals with the same litter size as a Common rock rat

Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (2) as a Common rock rat: