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Animal Age

How old does a Marsh rice rat get? (age expectancy)

What is the maximal age a Marsh rice rat reaches?

An adult Marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) usually gets as old as 2.33 years.

Marsh rice rats are around 24 days in the womb of their mother. When born, they weight 3 grams (0.01 lbs) and measure 2.37 meter (7′ 10″). As a member of the Muridae family (genus: Oryzomys), their offspring is 4 babies per pregnancy. Fully grown, they reach a bodylength of 13.3 cm (0′ 6″).

As a reference: Usually, humans get as old as 100 years, with the average being around 75 years. After being carried in the belly of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks), they grow to an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) and weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual.

A Marsh rice rat gets as old as 2.33 years

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.

Animals of the same family as a Marsh rice rat

Not really brothers and sisters, but from the same biological family (Muridae):

Animals that reach the same age as Marsh rice rat

With an average age of 2.33 years, Marsh rice rat are in good companionship of the following animals:

Animals with the same number of babies Marsh rice rat

The same number of babies at once (4) are born by:

Weighting as much as Marsh rice rat

A fully grown Marsh rice rat reaches around 53 grams (0.12 lbs). So do these animals:

Animals as big as a Marsh rice rat

Those animals grow as big as a Marsh rice rat: