What is the difference between Mice and Rats?

It is a common mistake by people taking rats for mice, and vice versa. This is actually because these two creatures resemble themselves, and also belong to the same rodent family but different science classes. Though are several species of rats, such as black rats, African pouched rats, wood rats, kangaroo rats, cotton rats, Norway rats, packrats, naked mole rats, and several others.

The common species that are popularly referred to as rats are the domestic types, which are of medium-sized; the Rattus norvegicus (Norway rats) and the Rattus rattus (black rats). Mice are rodents which are considered to be smaller in size with thin but long tails. The most popular mice species are the smoky mice, spiny mice, house mice, field mice, dormice, and deer mice. The most famous of them is the house mice (Mus musculus), which happens to the one that people frequently encounter. Rats can feed on mice, but mice cannot feed on rats.