Even if you are not familiar with the word rodent, you probably know quite a few of these animals. Hamsters, rats, guinea pigs, and capybaras are all types of rodents. Like you and me, rodents are mammals. There are over 2000 species of rodents. That means around 40% of all mammal species are rodents!
Introducing 6 fab rodents: Can you find the matching pairs?
Did you know?
A distinguishing feature of rodents is their sharp front teeth, called incisors. These teeth are specialized for gnawing. (Picture a rat gnawing on a carrot or a beaver chiseling through a tree.) Rodent incisors grow continuously (nonstop). Rodents need to gnaw to keep their incisors from growing too long.
Rodents have a pair of incisors on their top and their bottom jaws. Humans have two pairs of incisors on our top and bottom jaws. Humans have baby teeth and adult teeth. In humans, incisors are usually the first baby teeth to fall out. Unlike humans, rodents only have one set of teeth.
Meet the rodents
Rodents live on all continents except Antarctica. They are found in many different wild habitats like forests, grasslands, and deserts. Rats and mice share our cities and suburban areas too.
Rodents are important. They eat plants and control plant growth. They turn over the soil by burrowing. Rodents are food for many types of predators.
Facts about capybaras:
- Continent: South America
- Largest rodents in the world
- Excellent swimmers; have webbed feet
- Live in groups
Facts about naked mole rats:
- Continent: Africa
- Hairless with wrinkled, pinkish skin
- Underground dwellers; live in complex colonies with a queen rat
- Long-lived, up to 30 years
Facts about zokors:
- Continent: Asia (China/Mongolia)
- Excellent burrowers with powerful digging claws
- Tunnel dwellers; have poor eyesight and use touch and smell to find food
- Eat plant roots, tubers, bulbs
Facts about beavers:
- Continents: North America, Europe, Asia
- Ecosystem engineers; build dams in rivers and streams
- Chisel-shaped teeth used to cut down trees for dam-building
- Giant paddle-like tail used for swimming, communication, and storing fat
Facts about striped grass mice:
- Continent: Africa
- Small size; striped backs help them camouflage in grasslands and savannas
- Eat seeds and grass
- Agile climbers and leapers
Facts about lemmings:
- Continent: Europe (species pictured), Asia, North America
- Live in cold, harsh Arctic and subarctic habitats
- Create burrows underground
- Feed on grasses, mosses, other plant material
You may want to check out this naked mole rat information page and naked mole rat cam from Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
Image credits: capybara: Hillebrand Breuker, Getty Images via Canva.com; naked mole rat: Roshan Patel, Smithsonian CCO images; zokor: © Юлия Стороженко, (CC BY-NC), via iNaturalist; beaver: Anna39, Getty Images Pro via Canva.com; striped grass mouse: Ondrej Prosicky, Getty Images via Canva.com; lemming: Tinieder, Getty Images via Canva.com; hamster graphic: zedstudio, via Canva.com; nutria: Eisenlohr from Getty Images, via Canva.com; smiling person: Skinny Tie Media from Pexels, via Canva.com
Created by Megan Strauss | Mongabay Kids. Post last updated: 1 April 2025
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