Brown Rat

Order Rodentia; Family Muridae; Scientific name: Rattus norvegicus; Common name: Brown Rat; Alternative common names: Sewer Rat, Norway Rat or Laboratory Rat - Distribution in Australia: present mainly around large cities and towns and along eastern coast distributed in all mainland states, Tasmania and a few offshore islands along the eastern coast; absent throughout centre except in the Alice Springs, in the tropics except Darwin and along southern coast of Western Australia and South Australia except in the Adelaide - Note: this is an introduced pest species in Australia; it has been introduced accidentally in the early days of European settlement arriving aboard ships with the First Fleet.