| Australian Swamp Rat | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Subfamily: | Murinae |
| Genus: | Rattus |
| Species: | R. lutreolus |
| Binomial name | |
| Rattus lutreolus (Gray, 1841) |
|
The Australian Swamp Rat (Rattus lutreolus) is a species of rat occurring around the coast of south and eastern Australia. It occurs in lowland country from Fraser Island down the coast of New South Wales and Victoria to the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia. A subspecies velutinus occurs in Tasmania, and another subspecies lacus lives in isolated patches of high altitude rainforest near Atherton, Queensland.
Behaviour is partly nocturnal and diurnal. The diet is vegetarian. Rattus lutreolus lives in dense, wet, low vegetation.
The Swamp Rat can be seen at places like the Healesville Sanctuary, where they live in the grounds.