Post 5: Tree Hugger

How would you like to be stuck a tree for the rest of your life?

It is estimated that koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), arboreal animals native to Australia, spend twenty hours asleep per day and one to three hours per day eating—all in the same eucalyptus tree.

The fuzzy animals spend only about four minutes a day moving among branches or to other trees. Since koalas are solitary animals, they tend to stay in the same six or so acres of territory and not seek out other trees to stake claims on. The life of a koala is greatly confined to the same group of eucalyptus trees. “Within its home range,” states this MSN Encarta website, “a koala uses only a small number of trees, with up to a third of its time spent in one favorite tree.”

But there are other arboreal animals that do get a change of scenery. Arboreal animals make their homes in our trees all over the world; but most arboreal animals live in tropical forests. In the tropical forests are various strata, layers of vegetation that house different forms of life because of differing temperatures and light availability. The canopy level creates a living floor of plant material on which tree-dwelling animals can walk. Little pools of water even collect from the rain so that animals can drink without climbing down from the canopy.

Some animals, like the orangutan, build sleeping nests for nighttime use. Other animals have physical adaptations that allow them to sleep in trees without having to build nests; siamangs (Hylobates syndactylus), for instance, have cushiony pads on their rear ends called ischial callosities. And sloths’ (of genus Choloepus for two-toed sloths or Bradypus for three-toed sloths) feet are outfitted with claws that allow them to hang from branches while they sleep.

There is simply no need to descend to earth. Animals can go their entire lives without ever touching the ground!