koala vs Tomes's Rice Rat

Phascolarctos cinereus compared with Nephelomys albigularis

Key Differences

• koala is Vulnerable while Tomes's Rice Rat is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	koala	Tomes's Rice Rat
Kingdom same	Animalia (động vật)	Animalia (động vật)
Phylum same	Chordata (động vật có dây sống)	Chordata (động vật có dây sống)
Class same	Mammalia (lớp Thú)	Mammalia (lớp Thú)
Order	Diprotodontia (Thú hai răng trước)	Rodentia (Bộ Gặm nhấm)
Family	Phascolarctidae (Koalas)	Cricetidae
Genus	Phascolarctos (Koalas)	Nephelomys
Species	Phascolarctos cinereus	Nephelomys albigularis

Evolutionary Relationship

koala and Tomes's Rice Rat share a common ancestor at the Class level: Mammalia. (lớp Thú)

Conservation Status

koala

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~100.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Tomes's Rice Rat

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	koala	Tomes's Rice Rat
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.

Tomes's Rice Rat

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Colombia and Ecuador.

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.