Mice vs Rat
Mouse and rat both are actually non-scientific classifications. These two words are very common for the rodents that look similar to the eyes. There are many people, who think rat and mouse as child and parent, but this thing is not true. These two are very different organisms. There life history is very different and their biology is also different. Therefore, it is important to know about these two species to determine that which one is mouse and which is rat.
Mice
The mouse is a small rodent, it is also known as the house mouse. The mouse is one of the numerous species of Mus. It is a wild animal and it mainly lives with humans, it causes too much damage to food items and crops. This animal has been domesticated as the fancy mouse of pet, and also as the laboratory mouse. It is also the one most model organisms in medicine and biology. The body length of the house mouse is 7.5 to 10 cm and its tail’s length is 5 to 10 cm. The weight of the house mouse is normally 10 to 25g. They can be found in different colors like white, gray, brown and black. House mouse is with short hairs and very light belly. They have little hairs on ears and tail.
Rat
Rats are long-tailed and different medium sized rodents of a superfamily, Muroidea. Rats are the members of genus Rattus, the most common to humans are black rats and brown rats. Black rats and brown rats are the most common and famous species of rats. These groups are also known as the true rats or old world rats. Rats are bigger in size if you compare them to the mouse. In many developed countries, people love to keep rats as their pets. Pet rats are brown rats and are also known as the fancy rats.
Difference between Rat and Mouse
The body of a mouse can grow from 2 inches to 3 and half inches when they are fully grown, but if we look towards rat; its body will be as small as 7 inches and it can grow to 10 inches. Mouse will only weight as little has half ounce to 1 ounce, but if you look towards a larger rat, it can weight more than a pound. But if we talk about color, it vary in both rats and mice, you can most commonly see these animals in gray and brown. A mouse can easily squeeze to an opening as ¼ inches, but a rat can easily manage to go through ½ inches opening.
Conclusion
Rats and mouse belongs to different species, and that is why these two species cannot interbreed. However, mice and rats are related. Both descend from the common ancestors, who lived thousands of years ago. Different debates tell us that their ancestors have lived from 8 to 41 million years ago. The descendants of that common species, diverged into some different species, among which are rats and mice.