Compact Stonewort vs koala

Nitella tenuissima compared with Phascolarctos cinereus

Key Differences

Compact Stonewort is Extinct while koala is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Compact Stonewort	koala
Kingdom	Plantae (bitki)	Animalia (hayvan)
Phylum	Charophyta (Charophyta)	Chordata (Kordalılar)
Class	Charophyceae (Charophyceae)	Mammalia (memeliler)
Order	Charales (Charales)	Diprotodontia (İki ön dişliler)
Family	Characeae	Phascolarctidae (Koalas)
Genus	Nitella	Phascolarctos (Koalas)
Species	Nitella tenuissima	Phascolarctos cinereus

Conservation Status

Compact Stonewort

EX — Extinct

koala

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~100.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Compact Stonewort	koala
Diet	—	Herbivore
Average Lifespan	—	15 years
Average Length	—	75 cm
Average Weight	—	10.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Compact Stonewort

Habitat

Native to Asia and Europe and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Brazil, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan, and United States.

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.

Compact Stonewort

<em>Nitella tenuissima</em>, a stonewort formerly found in fresh and brackish water habitats, was a member of the charophyte family Characeae — the algal lineage most closely related to land plants. Historical records document its occurrence across Brazil, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan, and the United States, where it inhabited clear, oligotrophic lakes, ponds, and slow-flowing water bodies with low nutrient levels. Like other Nitella species, it was a delicate, translucent, submerged aquatic plant lacking the calcium carbonate encrustation of related genera, forming low-growing mats on soft sediments in well-illuminated shallow water. The species played a role in aquatic ecosystems by stabilising lake sediments, contributing to water clarity, and providing microhabitat for invertebrates and small aquatic organisms. <em>Nitella tenuissima</em> is classified as Extinct by the IUCN, having not been recorded from any of its former localities despite targeted searches. The primary causes of its extinction are believed to be widespread eutrophication of freshwater habitats driven by agricultural nutrient runoff and sewage discharge, which eliminated the clear, nutrient-poor conditions on which the species depended. The loss of this stonewort is emblematic of the broader decline of freshwater charophyte diversity across the Northern Hemisphere. Biological traits including historical morphological measurements and reproductive parameters are documented only in sparse historical herbarium specimens and early botanical literature.

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.