The koala has adapted to its high-fiber, low-protein diet with reduced cheek teeth, highly cusped molars, cheek pouches, and a caecum that’s 4 times its body size and can eat 500 grams daily.
The koala has adapted to cope with its high-fiber, low-protein diet.
The cheek teeth are reduced to a single premolar and four broad, highly cusped molars on each jaw which finely grind the leaves for easier digestion. In addition, the koala’s caecum is up to four times its body size. The koala also has cheek pouches that allow the animal to store unchewed food while moving to a safer or more protected location.
An adult koala can eat 500 grams daily.
• Image | ©️ Nathan Rupert, Some Rights Reserved, (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
• Sources | (Dubuc & Eckroad, 1999; MacDonald, 1995)
