''Perikoala'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a po ...

s, related to the modern

koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the womb ...

. The genus diverged from a common ancestor of the other koala genera '' Nimiokoala'', ''

Litokoala ''Litokoala'' is an extinct genus of marsupials, and along with '' Nimiokoala'', is closely related to the modern koala. The three genera may have diverged at an earlier date, although the drying of the continent and the expansion of ''Eucalyptu ...

'', and ''

Phascolarctos ''Phascolarctos'' is a genus of marsupials with one living species, the koala ''Phascolarctos cinereus'', an iconic animal of Australia. Several extinct species of the genus are known from fossil material, these were also large tree dwellers that ...

'', which contains the living koala. Two species are recognised * '' Perikoala palankarinnica'' Stirton 1957 * ''

Perikoala robustus ''Perikoala'' is an extinct genus of marsupials, related to the modern koala. The genus diverged from a common ancestor of the other koala genera ''Nimiokoala'', ''Litokoala'', and ''Phascolarctos'', which contains the living koala. Two species ...

'' Woodburne et al. 1987

References

Prehistoric mammals of Australia Prehistoric vombatiforms Pleistocene marsupials Koalas Prehistoric marsupial genera {{paleo-marsupial-stub