Biography about Coala

Koala Coal content is a herbivore marsupial mammal living on trees. It lives in the south and east of Australia. The only surviving representative of the Koalov family, the detachment is bary marsupials. The description and origin of the species Europeans first opened the animal in, during an expedition to the Blue Mountains. The first image of the animal was published by the British naturalist George Perry in the first scientific description of the animal was given by the British botanist Robert Brown B, although his work remained unpublished for a long time.

The animal was assigned the scientific name for Phascolarctos Cineereus. The word PHASCOLARCTOS is formed from two Greek words PHASKOLOS Bag and Arktos Bear, and literally means a marsupial bear. Sinereus is translated from Latin as a “ash color”. The word "koala" was borrowed from the Daraqi language of the Australian Aborigines. The original name of the animal Gula literally meant "without water." The Aborigines thought that the animals did not drink water, because the animals went down from the trees quite rarely and drank only at night.

The first European colonists often called the animal “Koala Bear”, that is, the Coala Bear, due to external resemblance to the bear. The closest relative of Koala is Wombat. Both families belong to the Drill detachment, the submarine of Vombatiformes, and are the only surviving representatives of this subordinate. More distant relatives of the animal - kangaroo and hassles, belong to two other subdivisions of the family of bars.

What does the koala look like? Koala is a tightly knocked, root animals of medium sizes, in appearance a little resembles a lop -eared bear. The head is large, the tail is either rudimentary, or absent. The animal weighs from 4 to 15 kg, with a body with a length of 60 to 85 cm, which makes it one of the largest terrestrial marsupials. The size of the animal varies greatly depending on the habitat.

Coals living in the state of Victoria weigh approximately twice as much as their relatives from Queensland. Sexual dimorphism is strongly expressed - males are about 1.5 times larger than females. The male can also be distinguished by a more rounded nose, and through the chest glands - hairless areas of the skin on the chest. Like most other marsupials, males have a bifurcated penis, females - 2 side vagina and 2 separate uterus.

The females also have a bag, the entrance to which is pulled out by the sphincter so that the cub does not fall out. Koala has thick and long fur on the back, wool on the belly is shorter. The color varies from light gray to chocolate-brown. The fur on the belly is usually white, or light gray, and can reflect the sun's rays. Coala wool is the best in thermal insulation properties among marsupials, and perfectly protects the animal from rain and wind.

The animal has a strong muscular body, and disproportionately long front paws. Sharp bent claws help the animal climb trees. On the front paws there are 2 opposite fingers of the 5 -first and second, thanks to which the animal easily clings to the branches. At the end of the spine there is a cartilage pillow so that it is more convenient for the animal to sit on a branch.

On average, the brain of the animal weighs only 19 grams, and has a primitive device. Scientists explain the low weight of the brain with a plant diet on which maintaining a larger brain would be impossible. Due to the small brain, the animal does not differ in quick wits and is poorly adapted to changes. For example, Koala often does not eat leaves already torn from the branch, since the animal cannot adapt to changes in the power procedure.

Koala has good sense of smell and hearing, but poor vision. Where does the koala live? The animal is found in the south-east and east of Australia. The animal habitat takes about 1 million animals also brought under Adelaid, and to the islands of Kangaroo and French, where the animals have successfully took root. Earlier, the animal habitat extended far to the west, to the southwestern part of the state of West Australia, but climatic changes and active hunting from people squeezed out animals with most of their historical habitat.

Coals live in dense forests and edges, in tropical and moderate climate. In arid areas, animals try to stay of the coastal area to cool in a river or stream during a strong heat. What does the koala eat? Koala is a herbivore, and feeds mainly on trees. Most of the diet is eucalyptus leaves. Animals eat approximately 30 species from more than types of eucalyptus.

Coals also eat leaves of other trees - acacia, allocazuarins, kallitris, leptospermum and tea tree. Since the leaves of eucalyptus contains a lot of water, Koala drinks relatively little fluid. The animal needs from 70 to 90 ml of water per 1 kg of live weight per day. Females can only cost leaves, but large males need water additionally. During feeding, the animal holds on the branches with the hind and one front paw, the other front paw breaks the leaves.

Small individuals can advance by the end of the branch, large animals are held on thick branches.On the day, the animal eats up to a gram of leaves, for meals. Due to scarce fat reserves, the animal should eat often. The animal is well adapted to a low -calorie and toxic eucalyptus diet. Koala consumes an average of 2 times less energy than other mammals, and successfully digests toxins from eucalyptus thanks to the enzyme cytochrome P in the liver.

The animal has only one section of the digestive tract about 2 meters long, which is proportional to the size larger than that of any other animal. The digestive process lasts about hours in the wild, and at least hours for animals living in captivity. The nature and way of life since animals receive little energy from food, animals lead an energy -saving lifestyle, sleep or rest for about 20 hours a day.

Coals are active at night, and carry out most of the wakefulness after food. In the afternoon, animals sleep on the same tree as they eat. Animals descend to the ground, only to move to another tree. During the rest, the coals rest on the barrel with their backs, or lie with the stomach on the branch, hanging the legs down. On hot days, the animals descend below, to the coldest part of the tree, and hug the barrel to cool.

In cold weather, animals are curled with a ball to save heat. During periods of strong winds, the animals choose lower and thick branches, as more stable. The social structure of the koala live alone, and spend no more than 15 minutes a day on communication with relatives. Females lead a sedentary lifestyle - each adult female usually has its own territory. Adult males, on the contrary, often change their place of residence.

Alpha males dominate the younger opponents who are younger and inferior to them in size, and capture the best territories near the fertile females. Young and weak males are often forced to travel in search of the territory and females, which they can repel from the dominant male. Alpha males also sometimes go beyond the home range to expand their territory. To mark their trees, males rub the chest gland against the trunk or tree branch, or urinate on it.

Before climbing on a tree, the coals must sniff it in search of odor tags. Conflicts between animals most often occur when animals are found on the same tree. In the fight, animals bite, push and kick. The larger koala tries to shove the enemy from the tree, or drives it into a corner and bites it. When the opponent is expelled from the tree, the winner celebrates the victory with a roar and marks the tree as his own.

This is how the koals fight. In the process, both opponents strive to shove an opponent from a tree. In the video below, a larger male exposes a young coal from a tree, the poor thing sits under a tree and cries loudly.

Pregnant and lactating females are usually characterized by increased aggressiveness and attack anyone who comes too close. How do coals communicate with each other? Coals communicate with each other with a loud roar - it sounds like something between snoring, growl and grunt. Just listen. The unique vocal cords of the animal allow it to publish a roar at a low frequency, so that vibration from revision spreads far through thick vegetation.

Coals roar at any time of the year, especially often during the wedding season. The males attract females with a roar, scare away other males and denote their own territory. By sound, animals can approximately determine the size of the voice owner, so females more often respond to the roar of larger males, and young males try to bypass a obviously stronger enemy.

Females roar softer, during protection or stress they also make other sounds - screaming, screams, growls. Young koals squeak in case of danger, with age, the squeak turns into a roar or roar. Coals change the expression of the muzzle depending on the mood. When the animals scream, they press their ears back. When the animals grow or squeak, the ears lean forward, and the upper lip rises, exposing the teeth.

The reproduction of the Coal marriage season in the Coal lasts from mid -spring to early autumn.