Koala or, inaccurately, koala bear is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia.
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11 Facts About Koala
2.
Koala was given its generic name Phascolarctos in 1816 by French zoologist Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville, who would not give it a specific name until further review.
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3.
Koala is classified with wombats and several extinct families in the suborder Vombatiformes within the order Diprotodontia.
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4.
Koala is a stocky animal with a large head and vestigial or non-existent tail.
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5.
Koala has several adaptations for its eucalypt diet, which is of low nutritive value, high toxicity, and high in dietary fibre.
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6.
Koala society appears to consist of "residents" and "transients", the former being mostly adult females and the latter males.
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7.
Koala identified similarities between it and its fossil relatives Diprotodon and Nototherium, which had been discovered just a few years before.
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8.
Koala is well known worldwide and is a major draw for Australian zoos and wildlife parks.
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9.
Koala is featured in the Dreamtime stories and mythology of Indigenous Australians.
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10.
Koala was originally classified as Least Concern on the Red List, and reassessed as Vulnerable in 2014.
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11.
Koala was heavily hunted by European settlers in the early 20th century, largely for its thick, soft fur.
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