It is hard to guess what a White-tailed rat weights. But we have the answer:
An adult White-tailed rat (Mystromys albicaudatus) on average weights 86 grams (0.19 lbs).
The White-tailed rat is from the family Muridae (genus: Mystromys). It is usually born with about 6 grams (0.01 lbs). They can live for up to 6 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 1.12 meter (3′ 9″). Usually, White-tailed rats have 3 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 white-tailed rat (Mystromys albicaudatus) also known as the white-tailed mouse, is the only member of the subfamily Mystromyinae in the family Nesomyidae. This species is sometimes placed in the subfamily Cricetinae due to similarities in appearance between the white-tailed rat and hamsters, but molecular phylogenetic studies have confirmed that the two groups are not closely related. The subfamily Mystromyinae is sometimes placed within the family Muridae along with all other subfamilies of muroids.The white-tailed rat is restricted to shrubby areas and grasslands of South Africa and Lesotho. This is an uncommon species, and populations are thought to be declining because of conversion of scrubland to pasture. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as being an “endangered species”.
Animals of the same family as a White-tailed rat
We found other animals of the Muridae family:
- Distinguished Oldfield mouse with a weight of 77 grams
- California mouse with a weight of 42 grams
- Olive grass mouse with a weight of 39 grams
- Mearns’s pouched mouse with a weight of 64 grams
- Greater bandicoot rat with a weight of 583 grams
- Crafty vesper mouse with a weight of 27 grams
- Long-footed rat with a size of 15.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Oecomys concolor with a weight of 54 grams
- Ernst Mayr’s water rat with a weight of 42 grams
- Hispid cotton rat with a weight of 111 grams
Animals with the same weight as a White-tailed rat
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Mystromys albicaudatus:
- Pygmy treeshrew bringing 70 grams to the scale
- Greater nectar bat bringing 72 grams to the scale
- Biting chinchilla mouse bringing 82 grams to the scale
- Zambian mole-rat bringing 76 grams to the scale
- Dibbler bringing 72 grams to the scale
- Thomas’s mosaic-tailed rat bringing 90 grams to the scale
- Target rat bringing 70 grams to the scale
- Patagonian chinchilla mouse bringing 75 grams to the scale
- Heath mouse bringing 72 grams to the scale
- Sundevall’s jird bringing 69 grams to the scale
Animals with the same litter size as a White-tailed rat
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (3) as a White-tailed rat:
- Mexican volcano mouse
- Brants’s climbing mouse
- Northern three-toed jerboa
- Hairy-footed gerbil
- Crosse’s shrew
- Handleyomys melanotis
- Tullberg’s soft-furred mouse
- Long-tailed marmot
- Northern brown bandicoot
- Middle East blind mole-rat
Animals with the same life expectancy as a White-tailed rat
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a White-tailed rat:
- Bank vole with an average maximal age of 4.83 years
- Eastern barred bandicoot with an average maximal age of 5.5 years
- Abbott’s duiker with an average maximal age of 5.42 years
- Gansu pika with an average maximal age of 5 years
- Townsend’s chipmunk with an average maximal age of 7 years
- Uinta ground squirrel with an average maximal age of 5 years
- Scaly-tailed possum with an average maximal age of 6 years
- Tullberg’s soft-furred mouse with an average maximal age of 5.17 years
- Eastern quoll with an average maximal age of 6.75 years
- Common sheath-tailed bat with an average maximal age of 5 years