Koala [Categories: Vombatiforms, Australian animals]
The koala Phascolarctos cinereus ; sometimes also spelled Phascolarct u s cinereus ) is a thickset arboreal (Mammals of which the females have a pouch (the marsupium) containing the teats where the young are fed and carried) marsupial (Any animal that feeds chiefly on grass and other plants) herbivore endemic to (A nation occupying the whole of the Australian continent; aboriginal tribes are thought to have migrated from southeastern Asia 20,000 years ago; first Europeans were British convicts sent there as a penal colony) Australia , and the only representative of its ((biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more genera) family Phascolarctidae . Koalas are unmistakable: they are broadly similar in appearance to the (Burrowing herbivorous Australian marsupials about the size of a badger) wombat (their closest living relative), but have a thicker, softer coat, much larger ears, and longer limbs, which are equipped with large, sharp claws to assist with climbing. Weight varies from about 14 kg for a large, southern male, to about 5 kg for a small northern female. They are generally silent, but male koalas have a very loud advertising call (a nasal snort that (Any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae) human (Click link for more info and facts about children) children delight in imitating) that can be heard from almost a (A metric unit of length equal to 1000 meters (or 0.621371 miles)) | |
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