“…and today we’re talking about insistent incisors. But more on that later.”
A black rat finds a brick stack that blocks his way back to a food sack that helps his rat pack get a good snack.
There’s no flaw in a steady gnaw in the brick’s flaw with a rat jaw and a sharp claw.
To the rat’s glee, he is set free through a hole he made as a devotee to a chewy Life, Death, and Taxonomy.
Description
- Long, slim-bodied rodent that looks like it skipped leg day but never skipped cardio
- Usually dark brown to black, sometimes with a grayish belly like it’s wearing a mismatched hoodie
- Covered in short, sleek fur that always looks mildly greasy, even when it’s not
- Large rounded ears that seem a size too big for its head
- Pointy snout with twitchy whiskers constantly judging you
- Tail longer than its body, hairless and ropey, like a living extension cord
Measure Up
Welcome to the beloved Measure Up segment. The official listener’s favorite part of the show! The part of the show when we present the animal’s size and dimension in relatable terms through a quiz that’s fun for the whole family. It’s also the part of the show that’s introduced by you when you send in audio of yourself saying, singing, or chittering the words Measure Up into ldtaxonomy at gmail dot com.
The Great Mouse Detective – The world’s greatest criminal mind (lyrics)
Length
Adult black rats typically have a body length of about 5–8 inches (13–20 cm) from nose to rump. Their tail is long and slender—usually 6–10 inches (15–25 cm)—and is often as long as or longer than the body, which is a key identifying feature.
A traditional Indian bansuri is a bamboo flute and a key cultural artifact in Indian classical music, often associated with Krishna in mythology and art. True or False, the bansuri is exactly one black rat long?
Weight
Most adults fall between 2.5 and 7 ounces (70–200 grams). Males are generally a bit larger than females, but both sexes stay relatively light and agile, which suits their climbing-heavy lifestyle.
An adult female Indian star tortoise lives in dry forests, scrublands, and thorny vegetation across much of India. True or False, 30 black rats go into an Indian star tortoise.
Fast Facts
- Range: Originally from Southeast Asia, now global thanks to boats, trade routes, and humanity’s poor decisions.
- Habitat: Loves buildings, attics, rafters, and anywhere high up where it can feel superior.
- Diet: Omnivorous and wildly unpicky—grains, fruit, meat scraps, trash, your hopes and dreams.
- Behavior: Excellent climber that prefers rooftops and trees over sewers like its cousin the brown rat.
- Social Life: Lives in loose colonies but will absolutely throw another rat under the bus for food.
- Reproduction: Breeds fast and often, producing multiple litters a year because subtlety is not the plan.
- Sounds: Squeaks, chitters, and ultrasonic noises that are probably insults.
- Predators: Cats, owls, snakes, humans, and basically anything faster and angrier.
- Lifespan: About 1 year in the wild, longer in captivity if nothing eats it or poisons it first.
Major Fact: Chew Chew
Black rats (like all rodents) have ever-growing incisors, backed by powerful jaw muscles. They need to gnaw constantly.
They can chew through:
- Wood (even hardwood, given time)
- Drywall & plaster
- Plastic (including PVC pipes and bins)
- Aluminum (thin sheets, cans)
- Lead (yes—old pipes, flashing)
- Rubber (gaskets, seals)
- Electrical wire insulation
Despite legends, they can’t chew through very hard materials like steel, iron, or solid concrete. they sometimes appear to but through concrete because they do exploit weak points like cracks.
How?
- Rat incisors are harder than copper and aluminum
- They can apply bite forces of thousands of PSI at the tooth tip (pressure, not total force)
- Enamel is only on the front of the tooth, so it self-sharpens into a chisel edge
It’s also a matter of intelligence and persistence. Black rats don’t bulldoze obstacles.
They Test weak points, Return repeatedly, Exploit vibration, seams, and soft edges, and Work quietly over hours or days.
Why?
Black rats can chew so effectively because their teeth and jaws evolved under intense pressure to constantly process tough, fibrous foods and hard plant materials. In the wild, their diet includes seeds, nuts, bark, roots, and fruits with hard shells—foods that are calorie-dense but physically difficult to access.
Being able to gnaw through protective layers gives rats access to nutrition that many other animals can’t reach, especially during lean seasons. Chewing isn’t optional for them; it’s a key survival skill tied directly to feeding.
like many ridents— a rat’s incisors never stop growing. If they didn’t gnaw regularly, their teeth would overgrow, curve, and eventually prevent the animal from eating at all.
The distinctive enamel structure, with hard enamel on the front and softer dentin behind, causes the teeth to self-sharpen as they wear down. Gnawing keeps the teeth at a functional length while maintaining a razor-like edge, making chewing both a maintenance task and a tool.
Chewing also serves an important role in movement and shelter. Black rats are agile climbers that often nest in trees, roofs, or dense vegetation. In natural settings, they gnaw to widen crevices, hollow out nest sites, or access protected spaces inside wood and plant matter.
Ending
So sail the ocean blue, spread disease, and chew constantly so your teeth won’t grow forever like the black rat here in LDT.