Buckelwal vs Coarse-leaved Mallee

Megaptera novaeangliae compared with Eucalyptus grossa

Key Differences

Buckelwal is Vulnerable while Coarse-leaved Mallee is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Buckelwal	Coarse-leaved Mallee
Kingdom	Animalia (hewan)	Plantae (tumbuhan)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Mammalia (mamalia)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Cetacea (Whales & Dolphins)	Myrtales (Myrtales)
Family	Balaenopteridae (Rorquals)	Myrtaceae
Genus	Megaptera (Humpback Whales)	Eucalyptus
Species	Megaptera novaeangliae	Eucalyptus grossa

Conservation Status

Buckelwal

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~80.0K

Trend: Increasing ↑

Coarse-leaved Mallee

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Buckelwal	Coarse-leaved Mallee
Diet	Carnivore	—
Average Lifespan	50 years	—
Average Length	15.0 m	—
Average Weight	30.0 t	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Buckelwal

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 11 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Coarse-leaved Mallee

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Buckelwal

Among the most acrobatic of the great whales, humpback whales are renowned for their complex, haunting songs sung by males during breeding season — some lasting hours and evolving over time. Reaching 16 meters and 30 tonnes, they undertake the longest migrations of any mammal. Found in all oceans, humpbacks feed on krill and small fish using cooperative bubble-net feeding. Populations have largely recovered from historic whaling.

Coarse-leaved Mallee

Eucalyptus grossa, the coarse-leaved mallee, is a multi-stemmed shrubby eucalyptus in the family Myrtaceae endemic to southwestern Western Australia. Like other mallee eucalypts, it grows from a lignotuber, a swollen underground rootstock that enables rapid regeneration after fire, drought, or mechanical damage. The species reaches 1.5–4 meters in height and is immediately recognizable by its unusually large, thick, and leathery leaves with a coarse texture that gives the species its common name; the leaves are among the broadest of any mallee eucalyptus. Large showy flowers with abundant golden stamens attract honeyeaters and other nectarivores. Eucalyptus grossa inhabits sandy soils of the Swan Coastal Plain and adjacent Darling Range foothills, growing in kwongan heath, mallee scrub, and transition zones between heathland and jarrah woodland. It is assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN, being relatively common and widespread within its coastal and near-coastal southwestern Australian range, though many surrounding habitats have been cleared for agriculture and urban development around Perth. The species is commonly cultivated as an ornamental shrub in Australian gardens and is used in revegetation programs due to its drought tolerance and attractive flowering.