Phascolarctos
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| Phascolarctos | |
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| A koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) climbing its new tree in Otway National Park, Victoria, Australia | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Suborder: | Vombatiformes |
| Family: | Phascolarctidae |
| Genus: | Phascolarctos Blainville, 1816 |
| Species | |
The genus Phascolarctos (Phasco - pouch or bag, larct- from the Greek ‘arctos’ meaning bear) consists of 3 species, of which only one (P. cinereus, the Koala) is alive today. The largest species was P. stirtoni (or Giant Koala) that lived in the Pleistocene epoch. Giant Koala species are known only from fossils found in the Lake Eyre and Tarkarooloo basins of South Australia. Not much is known of the P. maris species.
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