Rajah spiny rat facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rajah spiny rat
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Muridae
Genus:	Maxomys
Species:	M. rajah
Binomial name
Maxomys rajah (Thomas, 1894)
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The Rajah spiny rat (Maxomys rajah), also known as the brown spiny rat, is a type of rodent. It lives in Southeast Asia. You can find it in countries like Thailand and Malaysia. It also lives on large islands such as Sumatra and Borneo.

Where Rajah Spiny Rats Live

Rajah spiny rats are often found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. They live in places like the Malay Archipelago, Sulawesi, Palawan, and Borneo. These rats can be found in both old, untouched forests and forests that have been logged.

They tend to prefer areas with sandy soil and lower elevations. These rats mostly stay on the ground. However, they can sometimes climb up into the trees. Rajah spiny rats usually live by themselves, not in groups with other rats.

Even though they are a common type of rat, scientists are still learning a lot about how they live in their natural environment.

What Rajah Spiny Rats Look Like

The Rajah spiny rat is a medium-sized rodent. Its fur on its back is brown. It is darker along the middle of its back. This fur also has many stiff, gray-brown spines.

The fur on its belly is white. This white fur has many short, white spines. Adult rats often have a dark brown stripe down the middle of their white belly. They never have an orange patch on their throat. The white color from their belly extends down in a narrow line to their feet.

Their tail is brown on top and lighter underneath. It does not have much hair. It can be tricky to tell a young Rajah spiny rat apart from another similar rat called the Red Spiny Rat (Maxomys surifer).