koala vs Sword Fern

Phascolarctos cinereus compared with Nephrolepis exaltata

Key Differences

• koala is Vulnerable while Sword Fern is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	koala	Sword Fern
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Tracheophyta
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)
Order	Diprotodontia (Marsupials)	Polypodiales (Polypodiales)
Family	Phascolarctidae (Koalas)	Nephrolepidaceae
Genus	Phascolarctos (Koalas)	Nephrolepis
Species	Phascolarctos cinereus	Nephrolepis exaltata

Conservation Status

koala

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~100.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Sword Fern

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	koala	Sword Fern
Diet	Herbivore	—
Average Lifespan	15 years	—
Average Length	75 cm	—
Average Weight	10.0 kg	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

koala

Habitat

Typically found in grasslands, forests, and vegetated habitats.

Range

Found in Australia. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Sword Fern

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania), Asia (Turkey), Europe (Portugal, Spain), North America (Cuba), Oceania and the Pacific (6 countries), and South America (Brazil, Colombia).

koala

Iconic marsupial of eastern and southeastern Australia, koalas weigh up to 15 kg and spend up to 22 hours daily sleeping to conserve energy from their low-calorie eucalyptus leaf diet. Highly specialized to process toxic eucalyptus compounds that would kill most other mammals, they have gut microbiomes uniquely adapted for detoxification. Listed as Endangered in 2022, with populations decimated by chlamydia disease, habitat clearing, and climate change.