KOALA. 
263 
presented by Leadbeater’s phalanger to the members of the genus Petaurus, being 
in fact a pigmy flying-phalanger without the parachute. The foot-pads are. 
however, wanting. The general appearance of the animal is very dormouse-like, 
the head being ornamented with stripes of white and dark brown, while the fur of 
the body is uniformly buff. 
_ , This curious and somewhat bear-like creature is an aberrant 
Koala. 
member of the family, constituting not only a distinct genus 
but likewise a separate subfamily by itself. To the natives it is known by 
the name of koala, while by the colonists it is generally termed the native 
bear; its scientific title being Phascolarctus cinereus. The koala has been 
compared in size to a large poodle dog, the length of the head and body being 
about 24 inches. It is a heavily-built animal, differing from all the other members 
of the family in the absence of any external tail, and also readily recognised by its 
large, squared, and thickly-fringed ears. The fur is extremely thick, woolly, and 
the koala nat. size). 
moderately soft; its general colour on the upper-parts being ashy grey, with a 
tinge of brown, but becoming yellowish white on the hind-quarters, while the 
under-parts are whitish. All the feet are provided with long claws, and the two 
innermost toes of the fore-feet are completely opposable to the remaining three. 
A peculiarity of the koala is the possession of pouches in the cheeks for storing 
food; while the dentition differs from that of the typical phalangers in the absence 
of the minute rudimentary teeth referred to above. The upper molar teeth have 
very short and broad crowns, somewhat resembling, in the structure of their 
tubercles, those of the crescent-toothed phalangers. In its internal organisation 
the koala approximates to the wombats. 
Habits The k° a ^ a i s confined to Eastern Australia, where it ranges from 
Queensland to Victoria. Like the other members of the family it is 
