Many common names have been proposed for the marsh rice rat. Copulatory behavior in the marsh rice rat is similar to that in laboratory brown rats. However, in Mississippi, flooding did cause a marked decline in rice rat abundance. In 1816, Bachman discovered the marsh rice rat. A case of kyphosis has been observed in a North Carolina marsh rice rat. Syphacia oryzomyos is a nematode that infects the marsh rice rat ("Oryzomys palustris") in Florida. The marsh rice rat was discovered in 1816 in South Carolina by John Bachman. One, "Oryzomys couesi", occurs with the marsh rice rat in Tamaulipas and southern Texas. The Barbados giant rice rat was described as "Megalomys georginae" in 2012. The Florida Keys form ("O. p. argentatus") is known as the "silver rice rat". The marsh rice rat has a large, flattened skull with a short and broad rostrum.