Kappa Koala

Posted by Paulette Arochena on May 11, 2010 | 1 comment

Helloooo! Sorry for the lack of new pieces! I’ve been very busy writing/reading way too much for my own good hehe! (Exams soon!)

Hope you like this little guy The title is supposed to be a little like ‘K for Koala’ as Kappa is K in the Greek alphabet (I think!)

Here are the details! ^_^

Hope you like his shiny green eyes! He likes looking at what’s happening around him.

 

“The koala’s nose is one of its most noticeable features, being unusually large and covered in dark leathery skin. Koalas rely on their highly developed sense of smell to differentiate between types of eucalyptus leaves and, due to fluctuating levels of toxins in eucalyptus leaves, to detect the levels of toxicity in the leaves at any particular time. They also need to smell the scent warnings put on trees by other koalas.”

“Despite having no tail, the koala has an excellent sense of balance. Its body is lean and muscular and its comparatively long, strong limbs support its weight when climbing. The front and hind limbs are nearly equal in length and much of the koala’s climbing strength comes from the thigh muscle joining the shin much lower than in many other mammals.”

“The koala’s paws are specially adapted for gripping and climbing. Rough pads on the palms and soles help it to grip tree trunks and branches, and both front and hind paws have long sharp claws. Each paw has five digits. On the front paw, two digits are opposed to the other three, rather like a human’s thumb, so they are both able to be moved in opposition to the other three. This allows the koala to grip more securely.Distinctive parallel koala scratch marks on tree trunks are due to this particular characteristic.”