Petite Marsilée vs koala

Marsilea minuta compared with Phascolarctos cinereus

Key Differences

• Petite Marsilée is Least Concern while koala is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Petite Marsilée	koala
Kingdom	Plantae (plante)	Animalia (animal)
Phylum	Tracheophyta	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Polypodiopsida (Filicopsida)	Mammalia (mammifères)
Order	Salviniales (Salviniales)	Diprotodontia (Marsupials)
Family	Marsileaceae	Phascolarctidae (Koalas)
Genus	Marsilea	Phascolarctos (Koalas)
Species	Marsilea minuta	Phascolarctos cinereus

Conservation Status

Petite Marsilée

LC — Least Concern

koala

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~100.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Petite Marsilée	koala
Diet	—	Herbivore
Average Lifespan	—	15 years
Average Length	—	75 cm
Average Weight	—	10.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Petite Marsilée

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and mangrove forests and coastal wetlands, among 4 distinct biome types spanning the Indomalayan and Palearctic realms.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Algeria, Comoros), Asia (Bhutan, Taiwan, Vietnam), North America (United States), and South America (Brazil).

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.

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.