Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
The Life Cycle of a Koala
40
LIFE CYCLE OF A KOALA
BY ALISHA AND ANGEL
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Koalas are an herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. Their scientific name is Phascolarctos cinereus (Goldfuss, 1817). ‘Phascolarctos’ comes from two Greek words, ‘phaskolos’ meaning pouch, and ‘arktos’ meaning bear. ‘Cinereus’ means ash-coloured.
TAXONOMY
TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Sub-Phylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Sub-Class: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Phascolarctidae
Genus: Phascolarctos
Species: Cinereus
PICTURES
FINDING A MATE
MATING
Koalas live in the Southern Hemisphere, for them the breeding season is around August to February. When a female koala sexually matures, she experiences estrus, which is the biological pressure to find a mate. While the females are going through estrus, male koalas ‘advertise’ themselves by marking trees with their scent and bellowing. Sometimes males might even fight or become aggressive towards one another in competition for the female.
VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMXBV9oLbVk: Koala Mating Call
MATING
Since mating takes up quite a lot of energy, (which the koalas don't have) the mating ritual isn't very long. Male koalas are often seen biting on the back of the female's neck or just back hugging. The actual making process lasts for about two minutes, and then both koalas go their separate ways. If the koala is stressed or doesn't have enough food, than they might avoid mating.
PHOTO
BIRTH OF THE JOEY
BIRTH
Once a female is carrying the young, she will give birth in about thirty- five days. The newly born joey is tiny, about the size of a jellybean. They have no hair on them, and are completely blind at birth. In addition to that, they also have no ears. They are about two centimeters long, and weigh less than a gram. You can sort of imagine it as a pink jellybean. Once it emerges, outside of the birth canal, it makes its way its mother’s pouch, by relying on its senses of smell and touch. There it attaches itself to a nipple.
PHOTO
This is a koala joey. It is not actually supposed to be out of its mother's pouch, but it is an orphan.
ADOLESCENT KOALAS
ADOLESCENT KOALAS
Next, for a time period of six months, the joey will stay in the pouch, living of its mother's milk. After these six months, when the joey has gained all necessary features, the mother will wean of the milk and begin feeding the joey semi-digested leaves called pap. Pap is a non-fecal waste which has been excreted by the mother.While they are on the diet of pap, they will go outside for longer periods of time. When the joey is about eleven months old, they will live outside permanently and can be seen hanging of their mother's backs.
PHOTO
PHOTO
ADULT KOALAS
ADULT KOALAS
The young koala may stay with their mother for a few months. However, when they are year old, they are capable of complete independence. Male and female koalas sexually mature when, they are about two years old. From here, the cycle continues. Koalas will live for 13 to 18 years and then they die.
PHOTO
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
-https://www.savethekoala.com/about-koalas/taxonomy
-http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2006/10/05/2041759.htm
- http://www.thekoala.com/koala/
-https://www.koalaworlds.com/koala-life-cycle/
-https://www.savethekoala.com/about-koalas/life-cycle-koala
- https://animals.mom.me/koala-reproduction-mating-10954.html