koala vs Wood gnat

Phascolarctos cinereus compared with Sylvicola cinctus

Key Differences

• koala is Vulnerable while Wood gnat is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	koala	Wood gnat
Kingdom same	Animalia (животные)	Animalia (животные)
Phylum	Chordata (хордовые)	Arthropoda (членистоногие)
Class	Mammalia (млекопитающие)	Insecta (насекомые)
Order	Diprotodontia (двурезцовые сумчатые)	Diptera (двукрылые)
Family	Phascolarctidae (Koalas)	Anisopodidae
Genus	Phascolarctos (Koalas)	Sylvicola
Species	Phascolarctos cinereus	Sylvicola cinctus

Evolutionary Relationship

koala and Wood gnat share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (животные)

Conservation Status

koala

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~100.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Wood gnat

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	koala	Wood gnat
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.

Wood gnat

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and United States.

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.