How Did Koalas Get Their Common & Scientific Name?

How Did Koalas Get Their Common & Scientific Name?

The word koala is a gender-neutral name derived from the Dharug word "Gula" or "Gulamanay" an Australian Aboriginal language , which translates to 'no water' or ‘no drink’, stems from the observation of this ethnic group that these animals rarely drink water.

The Koala was given its scientific name, Phascolarctos cinereus, its generic epithet is derived from the Greek word (φάσκωλος (phaskolos) which means pouch or bag and ἄρκτος (arktos) which means bear, while its specific epithet is a latin word which means ashey-gray.

In 1816, French zoologist Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville introduced its generic name Phascolarctos, the need to conduct further study about this creature, constrained him to defer the assigning of it's specific epithet, but in 1819, German zoologist Georg August Goldfuss proposed it's binomial nomenclature Lipurus cinereus. Numerous scientist proposes their scientific names for Koala, but the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature only acknowledged the idea of the above-mentioned scientists. It supported the generic name given by the french zoologist as it was publish first, hence, only the specific name was accepted as to the name proposed by the German zoologist, therefore, when Koala's official scientific name declared it was, Phascolarctos cinereus.

Phascolarctos cinereus means ash grey pouched bear, sometimes we hear people say "Koala Bear", because it was originally thought as related to bears, attributed by their bear-like features like round bodies , stubby tails, and bushy fur, but this is a common misconception, as they are marsupials and not placental mammals like bears.

Creative Commons CC BY 4.0