koala vs Sunburst Lichen

Phascolarctos cinereus compared with Lichenomphalia alpina

Key Differences

• koala is Vulnerable while Sunburst Lichen is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	koala	Sunburst Lichen
Kingdom	Animalia (động vật)	Fungi (nấm)
Phylum	Chordata (động vật có dây sống)	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)
Class	Mammalia (lớp Thú)	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)
Order	Diprotodontia (Thú hai răng trước)	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)
Family	Phascolarctidae (Koalas)	Hygrophoraceae
Genus	Phascolarctos (Koalas)	Lichenomphalia
Species	Phascolarctos cinereus	Lichenomphalia alpina

Conservation Status

koala

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~100.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Sunburst Lichen

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	koala	Sunburst Lichen
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.

Sunburst Lichen

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

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.