Eucalyptus trees are the main source of food for koalas in the wild. They are typically found in tall open eucalypt forests, which are the preferred habitats for koalas. While eucalyptus leaves make up the majority of their diet, koalas may also consume leaves from other native Australian trees.

We considered tree use by koalas in a Eucalyptus woodland dominated by three species: Eucalyptus globulus (38% of Eucalyptus trees), E. viminalis (29%) and E. ovata (32%), each of which...

Eucalypts are extraordinarily ancient – over 100 million years ago these flowering trees existed with the dinosaurs. Koalas are surprisingly ancient too – around 40 million years ago their evolution split from wombats that remain their closest living relative, although they are marsupials as so many of our Australian wildlife.

Now, a team of researchers has sequenced the koala genome, finding clues about how the animals survive on eucalyptus leaves, how they sniff out the least toxic leaves, and why they are so ...