Frank Carrick

Post Card From Oz

23 Sept 1998

From our Queensland, Australia Trip
17 July to 27 November 1998

UQ VET FARM. Dr. Frank Carrick of the Department of Zoology at UQ provided an overview of native Australian marsupials. The Australian marsupials can be subdivided into two major groups on the basis of their dentition: polyprotodonts, which are mostly carnivores and insectivores, and diprotodonts, which are mostly omnivores and herbivores. There is a great diversity of marsupials. Even though there are no "marsupial bats" or "marsupial whales," virtually every other mammalian lifestyle has been evolved by marsupials now or in the past.
Koala. 

Class: Mammalia
Subclass: Theria
Infraclass: Metatheria
Species: Phasolarcotis cinerus
"Koala"
The koala is a somewhat larger diprotodont with a body length of 90cm and a weight of 6kg. It is not commonly seen in the greater Brisbane area. Its nocturnal and feed mainly on the leaves of certain gum trees. Dogs, cars and guns are the main threats. In two six-month visits, the only koalas in the wild I saw were at Noosa, 200km north of Brisbane.

After the lecture, we were able to have a first hand look at the Koala Study program run at the Vet Farm by Dr. Carrick. Among other things, the program cares for koalas that have suffered injuries (usually from encounters with cars or dogs) or that are ill with some other disease.

Go to:

Previous Post Card
Next Post Card