Special Adaptations of the Koala

Nose

• The koala needs to rely on its sense of smell, since its primary source of food is the leaves of the eucalyptus tree, which can contain poison. Therefore, the koala has evolved to accommodate a particularly large nose for its size, enabling a keener sense of smell.

Teeth

• The koala's diet of eucalyptus leaves, again, plays a part in the development of the animal, in the way in which the koala's teeth are adapted to eat this food. The koala's scissor teeth, situated at both the front and the back of the mouth, are specially formed to cut up the eucalyptus leaves like scissors slice paper.

Fur

• A koala's fur is thick and woolly, and is an adaptation of the animal that allows it to survive even when the temperature is especially hot or cold, as well as offering it some comfort against the rain. The speckles of white that mix in with the animal's dark or brown fur provide a measure of camouflage while the koala is in the trees. A koala's fur gets particularly dense around its bottom, which enables it to perch on rough surfaces with ease.

Paws and Claws

• The koala spends much of its days in trees, from where it reaches to eat the eucalyptus leaves it thrives on. Its claws have adapted to aid it in this task. The koala's hind paws feature no claw and have opposable thumbs, while the front claws have thumbs alongside claws, which help the koala to scale up tree branches while maintaining a steady grip. The koala's hind paws also feature fused together digits, utilized in the animal's grooming process.

Brain and Head

• Koalas don't have particularly large brains, despite the fact that their heads are large considering the size of their bodies. In fact, the koala has a smaller brain than other marsupials that are related to it, according to the Australia Koala Foundation website. The brain's size has been suggested by Martin &Handasyde, in the book "The Koala. Natural History, Conservation &Management," to be a result of the koala's diet. Since the koala has a low-energy diet, the small brain may be an adaptation resulting from the animal's low expenditure of energy.