The Koala is Australia's most popular and most loved marsupial mammal. Koalas, together with wombats, their closest relatives, belong to the super-family of Vombatoidea. It is believed that some 25 million years ago, they shared a common ancestor. Even today, despite the differences in habits and structure, koalas and wombats have many common anatomical features, pointing to a shared past. It's fur is thick and usually ash grey with a tinge of brown in places.
Most marsupials have pouches where the tiny newborns develop.
A koala mother usually gives birth to one joey at a time. Like bears, they are mammals. They have round fuzzy ears, and they look cute and cuddly, like a teddy bear. Phascolarctos cinereus A highly specialized, arboreal marsupial, restricted to a diet of leaves of certain eucalyptus trees. Once common in eastern Australia but severely reduced by hunting and loss of habitat.