# What is the animal adjective for rat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 10, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042 "2004-12-10T00:50:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/21 "2004-12-10T03:31:30Z")
Damn! ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/22 "2004-12-10T03:44:06Z")
When you see a thread title like this, do you also have an image of a sprint race, with a starter and his gun, athletes on their blocks, a group of timekeepers at the finshing line, a video room where officials pore over the video of the race amid a stack of record books, rules books and encyclopedias, and a press room with sports hacks hollering their reports down the phone? ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/23 "2004-12-10T04:07:27Z")
> [@Laughing Lagomorph](#): > > I’ve found a couple of technical references that use the adjective _rattine_ in this situation (example here: [http://www.exalpha.com/pdfs/X1013.pdf](http://www.exalpha.com/pdfs/X1013.pdf)). > > It seems to be used in situations where they specifically want to distinguish rat proteins or antibodies from mouse ones…both are important experimental animals and their amount of molecular “relatedness” can impact some molecular biological experiments. Yep. You say “murine” to a biologist, she thinks “mouse”. When you want her to think rat, you pretty much just say rat, e.g. murine model of diabetes vs. rat model of diabetes. Technically, that doesn’t really make sense, but it will be understood nonetheless. I have never actually heard anyone say “rattine” that I can recall, though I’ve encountered that word on rare occasions in papers. I kind of wish there was a fun word like “murine” that both mice and rats had all to themselves. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/24 "2004-12-10T04:40:07Z")
Cat:Feline::Weasel:[musteline](http://www.bartleby.com/61/3/M0500300.html). * * * Part of the confusion is whether we’re taking the -ine name from. For canines, felines, and murines, the name comes from the Family name. For lupines (wolves) the name comes from their species name (Canis lupus) and for foxes (vulpines) the name comes from their genus name, Vulpes (but still in the Family of Canidae (canine)). **Polycarp** , while one can say that cheetahs are acinonychine, because their Genus is Acinonyx, or that their Subfamily is Acinonychinae, they are still of the Family of Felidae, and therefore, felines (otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to call lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars ‘felines’ because they belong to the Subfamily, Pantherinae, and therefore, would have to call them pantherines). ```auto Class: Mammalia Order Family Subfamily Genus Species Subspecies Common ========= ======= =========== ======== ========== ========== =========== Carnivora Felidae Felinae Felis silvestris silvestris wild cat Carnivora Felidae Felinae Felis silvestris catus domestic cat, or.. Carnivora Felidae Felinae Felis silvestris domesticus cat Carnivora Felidae Felinae Lynx lynx lynx Carnivora Felidae Felinae Puma concolor puma Carnivora Felidae Acinochinae Acinonyx jubatus cheetah Carnivora Felidae Pantherinae Panterha leo lion Carnivora Felidae Pantherinae Panterha tigris tiger Carnivora Felidae Pantherinae Panterha pardus leopard Carnivora Felidae Pantherinae Panterha onca jaguar Carnivora Canidae Canis latrans coyote Carnivora Canidae Canis rufus red wolf Carnivora Canidae Canis lupus (grey) wolf Carnivora Canidae Canis lupus familiaris domestic dog Carnivora Canidae Canis lupus dingo dingo Carnivora Canidae Canis aureus jackal Carnivora Canidae Vulpes vulpes red fox Carnivora Canidae Vulpes velox swift fox Carnivora Canidae Urocyon cinereoargenteus gray fox Rodentia Muridae Muridae Rattus norvegicus brown rat Rodentia Muridae Muridae Rattus rattus black rat Rodentia Muridae Murinae Mus musculus lab mouse ``` For the confusing taxonomy of rodents (using Order, Infraorder, Suborder, Family, and Superfamily) check out Wikipedia’s [Rodent](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodentia). Peace. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/25 "2004-12-10T11:15:03Z")
I’m going out on a limb here and saying that at least in common {as opposed to scientific} usage it would be “rodentine”. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/26 "2004-12-10T13:37:55Z")
OP here- Murine is what I was looking for: I had seen it listed for mice (I can Google too!) but didn’t think to apply it to all Muridae. Mods- feel free to close this as I have my answer! Thank you everyone! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/27 "2004-12-10T13:43:32Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > Cat:Feline::Weasel:[musteline](http://www.bartleby.com/61/3/M0500300.html). > > **Polycarp** , while one can say that cheetahs are acinonychine, because their Genus is Acinonyx, or that their Subfamily is Acinonychinae, they are still of the Family of Felidae, and therefore, felines (otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to call lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars ‘felines’ because they belong to the Subfamily, Pantherinae, and therefore, would have to call them pantherines). > [followed in original by table] Great comment, and I would agree – except that I learned a very clear break between lesser and great cats on the one hand and the cheetah on the other, where all the former were Felinae, while the cheetah was all by itself in Acinonychinae. And that was what I was attempting to convey. But I think I can see the sense of _Felis_ and _Panthera_ each having their own subfamily, though I’d be inclined to argue against it. Side comment to amateur mammalian taxonomists: I ran into an essay some years ago, and have never been able to recover it since, with an interesting premise. Consider the fossa (_Cryptoprocta ferox_), generally considered the most advanced and catlike of the Viverridae (civets and mongooses). The author took cryptoproctine characteristics in conjunction with cheetah characteristics, and did a compare-and-contrast with typical “cat” characteristics – and came to the conclusion that whatever level of relationship you place the cheetah at w/r/t “typical” felids, the fossa belongs at the same level, because they share feline characteristics to approximately the same degree. (His suggestion was a separate family within the Feloidea, IIRC.) ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/28 "2004-12-10T16:21:02Z")
> [@Laughing Lagomorph](#): > > I needed the word to describe this guy I know So what is it that makes him rat-like? > [@Laughing Lagomorph](#): > > (don’t ask) Oooops…sorry, never mind. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/29 "2004-12-10T16:41:04Z")
That does it, I’m sticking to Visine. :eek: But it seems to me that the most common adjective for rat is “dirty”. Preferably with a Cagney impression. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/30 "2004-12-10T17:50:14Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > it would be “rodentine”. Which not many people know is the Canonical name for the Catholic Mass said in Ratin… ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/31 "2004-12-10T19:49:10Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Which not many people know is the Canonical name for the Catholic Mass said in Ratin… As opposed to the Tridentine Mass, normally chanted by Neptune? 😉 (Or on Neptune?) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/32 "2004-12-10T20:09:25Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > murine, I believe. Applies to both mice and rats. Egads, what did I just squeeze into my eyes? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/33 "2004-12-10T21:06:42Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > As opposed to the Tridentine Mass, normally chanted by Neptune? 😉 (Or on Neptune?) Except in the Byzantine Rite, where it’s chanted by Poseidon. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/34 "2004-12-10T22:18:28Z")
OK, so what are humans? Homine? (from _homo_ sapiens) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/35 "2004-12-10T22:24:29Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > OK, so what are humans? Homine? (from _homo_ sapiens) Humans are human. Great apes (as a class, including humans) are hominid. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/36 "2004-12-10T22:31:21Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Which not many people know is the Canonical name for the Catholic Mass said in Ratin… Or if said by a guinea pig it could be done in Pig Ratin… ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/37 "2004-12-10T22:37:17Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Or if said by a guinea pig it could be done in Pig Ratin… Did you know that the Vatican has its own special delicacy, rarely sold to non-Catholics? It’s a kind of cheese made using the lining of guinea pig stomachs as rennet. They call it Cavy-Curia’ed. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/38 "2004-12-10T22:38:36Z")
I think eventually humans, extinct species of the genus _homo_, as well as some of the earlier bipedal apes from our line will come to be known universally as _hominini_. That transition hasn’t happened yet, and may never, but the trend appears to be toward making hominins (ourselves and our direct ancestors after the human/great ape split) a subset of hominids. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/39 "2004-12-10T23:01:09Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > One would be tempted to say ‘rodent,’ and then one would be wrong, especially if one is comparing cat:feline:🐀???. > > That’s because rat:rodent::cat(or dog)::carnivore. Carnivora and Rodentia are the Order of these Mammals. > > Felidae, Canidae, and Muridae are the Families of the Cat, Dog, and Rat. And so, the correct answer is… > > [Murid](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=murid) or [murine](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=murine). > > See Wiki article: [Muridae](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muridae). > > Peace, -hominid Good point. The _-ine_ endings refer to the genus, while the _-id_ endings are for the family. Strictly speaking, lions and tigers are not felines although they are felids. Their genus adjective would be _Pantherine_. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042/40 "2004-12-11T01:05:54Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Or if said by a guinea pig it could be done in Pig Ratin… You think you’re joking… My brother was in Peru a while back, where they eat guinea pigs, and he has a photo taken there of a fresco in a rural church, depicting the Last Supper with Christ handing round the wine and roast guinea pigs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-animal-adjective-for-rat/279042.md?page=3)