On Wed, Jan 08, 2003 at 02:15:43AM -0601, Dave Huang wrote:
  | On Wed, Jan 08, 2003 at 06:59:09PM +1100, Luke Mewburn wrote:
  | > Koalas are marsupials, not mammals (which bears are).
  | > There is no such thing as a "koala bear".
  | 
  | Marsupials are mammals, actually... they're a subset of mammals (or to 
  | be precise, mammals are of the class Mammalia, marsupials are the 
  | subclass Metatheria, and placentals, like you and me, are subclass 
  | Eutheria). Monotremes, such as the platypus and echidna, are mammals
  | too--subclass Prototheria.

ok, i stand corrected by someone who knows more about biology than me :) :)

  | As to whether or not there's such a thing as a "koala bear", I think
  | enough people use the name that there is such a thing :) Not that
  | it means that a "koala bear" is any sort of bear... just like a "hedgehog"
  | isn't any sort of hog, a "sea cow" isn't a cow, and a "carpet" isn't
  | a pet :)

"koala bear" just looks `wrong' to most Australians...
(well, at least those edjukated propuh :)