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Koala

 

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For other uses, see Koala (disambiguation).

The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), sometimes called the koala bear, 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 wombats. The koala is found in coastal areas of the mainland's eastern and southern regions, inhabiting Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is easily recognisable by its stout, tailless body and large head with round, fluffy ears and large, dark nose. The koala has a body length of 60–85 cm (24–33 in) and weighs 4–15 kg (9–33 lb). Fur colour ranges from silver grey to chocolate brown. Koalas from the northern populations are typically smaller and lighter in colour than their counterparts further south. These populations possibly are separate subspecies, but this is disputed.

Koala

Temporal range: 0.7–0 MaPreꞒ

O

S

D

C

P

T

J

K

Pg

N

 

Middle Pleistocene – Recent

 

Conservation status

 

Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)[1]

Scientific classification 

Domain:

Eukaryota

Kingdom:

Animalia

Phylum:

Chordata

Class:

Mammalia

Infraclass:

Marsupialia

Order:

Diprotodontia

Family:

Phascolarctidae

Genus:

Phascolarctos

Species:

P. cinereus

Binomial name

Phascolarctos cinereus

(Goldfuss, 1817)

 

Koala range Native

 Introduced

Synonyms[2]: 45 [3]

Lipurus cinereus Goldfuss, 1817

Marodactylus cinereus Goldfuss, 1820

Phascolarctos fuscus Desmarest, 1820

Phascolarctos flindersii Lesson, 1827

Phascolarctos koala J.E. Gray, 1827

Koala subiens Burnett, 1830

Koalas typically inhabit open Eucalyptus woodland, as the leaves of these trees make up most of their diet. This eucalypt diet has low nutritional and caloric content and contains toxic compounds that deter most other mammals from feeding on it. Koalas are largely sedentary and sleep up to twenty hours a day. They are asocial animals, and bonding exists only between mothers and dependent offspring. Adult males communicate with loud bellows that intimidate rivals and attract mates. Males mark their presence with secretions from scent glands located on their chests. Being marsupials, koalas give birth to underdeveloped young that crawl into their mothers' pouches, where they stay for the first six to seven months of their lives. These young koalas, known as joeys, are fully weaned around a year old. Koalas have few natural predators and parasites, but are threatened by various pathogens, such as Chlamydiaceae bacteria and koala retrovirus.

Because of their distinctive appearance, koalas, along with kangaroos and emus, are recognised worldwide as symbols of Australia. They were hunted by Indigenous Australians and depicted in myths and cave art for millennia. The first recorded encounter between a European and a koala was in 1798, and an image of the animal was published in 1810 by naturalist George Perry. Botanist Robert Brown wrote the first detailed scientific description of the koala in 1814, although his work remained unpublished for 180 years. Popular artist John Gould illustrated and described the koala, introducing the species to the general British public. Further details about the animal's biology were revealed in the 19th century by several English scientists. Koalas are listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Among the many threats to their existence are habitat destruction caused by agriculture, urbanisation, droughts, and associated bushfires, some related to climate change. In February 2022, the koala was officially listed as endangered in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, and Queensland.

Etymology

The word "koala" comes from the Dharug gula, meaning 'no water'. Although the vowel "u" was originally written in the English orthography as "oo" (in spellings such as coola or koolah — two syllables), the spelling later became "oa" and the word is now pronounced in three syllables, possibly in error.[4]

Adopted by white settlers, "koala" became one of several hundred Aboriginal loan words in Australian English, where it was also commonly referred to as "native bear",[5] later "koala bear", for its supposed resemblance to a bear.[6] It is also one of several Aboriginal words that made it into International English, alongside e.g. "didgeridoo" and "kangaroo".[6] The generic name, Phascolarctos, is derived from the Greek words φάσκωλος (phaskolos) 'pouch' and ἄρκτος (arktos) 'bear'. The specific name, cinereus, is Latin for 'ash coloured'.[7]

Taxonomy

The koala was given its generic name Phascolarctos in 1816 by French zoologist Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville,[8] who would not give it a specific name until further review. In 1819, German zoologist Georg August Goldfuss gave it the binomial Lipurus cinereus. Because Phascolarctos was published first, according to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, it has priority as the official name of the genus.[9]: 58–59  French naturalist Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest coined the name Phascolarctos fuscus in 1820, suggesting that the brown-coloured versions were a different species than the grey ones. Other names suggested by European authors included Marodactylus cinereus by Goldfuss in 1820, P. flindersii by René Primevère Lesson in 1827, and P. koala by John Edward Gray in 1827.[2]: 45 

Evolution

The koala is classified with wombats (family Vombatidae) and several extinct families (including marsupial tapirs, marsupial lions and giant wombats) in the suborder Vombatiformes within the order Diprotodontia.[10] The Vombatiformes are a sister group to a clade that includes macropods (kangaroos and wallabies) and possums.[11] The koala's lineage possibly branched off around 40 million years ago during the Eocene.[12]

 Reconstructions of the ancient koalas Nimiokoala (larger), and Litokoala (smaller), from the Miocene Riversleigh Fauna

The modern koala is the only extant member of Phascolarctidae, a family that includes several extinct genera and species. During the Oligocene and Miocene, koalas lived in rainforests and had more generalised diets.[13] Some species, such as the Riversleigh rainforest koala (Nimiokoala greystanesi) and some species of Perikoala, were around the same size as the modern koala, while others, such as species of Litokoala, were one-half to two-thirds its size.[14] Like the modern species, prehistoric koalas had well developed ear structures which suggests that they also made long-distance vocalisations and had a relatively inactive lifestyle.[13] During the Miocene, the Australian continent began drying out, leading to the decline of rainforests and the spread of open Eucalyptus woodlands. The genus Phascolarctos split from Litokoala in the late Miocene,[13][15] and had several adaptations that allowed it to live on a specialised eucalyptus diet: a shifting of the palate towards the front of the skull; upper teeth lined by thicker bone, molars located relatively low compared the jaw joint and with more chewing surface; smaller pterygoid fossa;[13] and a larger gap separating the incisor teeth and the molars.[16]: 226 

P. cinereus may have emerged as a dwarf form of the giant koala (P. stirtoni), following the disappearance of several giant animals in the late Pleistocene. A 2008 study questions this hypothesis, noting that P. cinereus and P. stirtoni were sympatric during the middle to late Pleistocene, and the major difference in the morphology of their teeth.[17] The fossil record of the modern koala extends back at least to the middle Pleistocene.[18]

Molecular relationship between living Diprotodontia families based on Phillips and collages (2023)[19]

 

 

 

Vombatidae (wombats)

 

 

Phascolarctidae (koalas)

 

 

 

 

 

Acrobatidae

 

 

 

Tarsipedidae (honey possum)

 

 

 

Petauridae (wrist-winged gliders and allies)

 

 

Pseudocheiridae (ringtail possums and allies)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Macropodidae (kangaroos, wallabies and allies)

 

 

 

Phalangeridae (brushtail possums and cuscuses)

 

 

Burramyidae (pygmy possums)

 

 

 

 

 

Morphology tree of Phascolarctidae based on Beck and collages (2020)[20]

 

 

Thylacoleonidae (extinct marsupial lion and allies)

 

 

 

Vombatomorphia (wombats and fossil relatives)

 

 

Phascolarctidae 

 

Priscakoala lucyturnbullae

 

 

 

 

Madakoala spp.

 

 

Perikoala robustus

 

 

 

 

Nimiokoala greystanesi

 

 

 

Litokoala dicksmithi

 

 

 

Litokoala kutjamarpensis

 

 

Phascolarctos cinereus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Genetics and variations

Three subspecies are recognised: the Queensland koala (Phascolarctos cinereus adustus, Thomas 1923), the New South Wales koala (Phascolarctos cinereus cinereus, Goldfuss 1817), and the Victorian koala (Phascolarctos cinereus victor, Troughton 1935). These forms are distinguished by pelage colour and thickness, body size, and skull shape. The Queensland koala is the smallest of the three, with silver or grey short hairs and a shorter skull. The Victorian koala is the largest, with shaggier, brown fur and a wider skull.[21]: 7 [22] The geographic limits of these variations are based on state borders, and their status as subspecies is disputed. A 1999 genetic study suggests koalas exist as a cline within a single evolutionarily significant unit with limited gene flow between local populations.[22]

Other studies have found that koala populations have high levels of inbreeding and low genetic variation.[23][24] Such low genetic diversity may have been caused by declines in the population during the late Pleistocene.[25] Rivers and roads have been shown to limit gene flow and contribute to the isolation of southeast Queensland populations.[26] In April 2013, scientists from the Australian Museum and Queensland University of Technology announced they had fully sequenced the koala genome.[27]

Characteristics

 Duration: 35 seconds.0:35Scratching and grooming

The koala is a robust animal with a large head and vestigial or non-existent tail.[9]: 1 [28] It has a body length of 60–85 cm (24–33 in) and a weight of 4–15 kg (9–33 lb),[28] making it among the largest arboreal marsupials.[29] Koalas from Victoria are twice as heavy as those from Queensland.[21]: 7  The species is sexually dimorphic, with males 50% larger than females. Males are further distinguished from females by their more curved noses[29] and the presence of chest glands, which are visible as bald patches.[21]: 55  The female's pouch opening is secured by a sphincter which holds the young in.[30]

The pelage of the koala is denser on the back.[29] The back fur colour varies from light grey to chocolate brown.[9]: 1–2  The belly fur is whitish; on the rump it is mottled whitish and dark.[28] The koala has the most effective insulating back fur of any marsupial and is highly resilient to wind and rain, while the belly fur can reflect solar radiation.[31] The koala's curved, sharp claws are well adapted for climbing trees. The large forepaws have two opposable digits (the first and second, which are opposable to the other three) that allow them to grip small branches. On the hind paws, the second and third digits are fused, a typical condition for members of the Diprotodontia, and the attached claws (which are still separate) function like a comb.[21]: 5  The animal has a robust skeleton and a short, muscular upper body with relatively long upper limbs that contribute to its ability to scale trees. In addition, the thigh muscles are anchored further down the shinbone, increasing its climbing power.[2]: 183 

 Mounted skeleton

For a mammal, the koala has a proportionally small brain,[9]: 81  being 60% smaller than that of a typical diprotodont, weighing only 19.2 g (0.68 oz) on average.[32] The brain's surface is fairly smooth and "primitive".[21]: 52  It does not entirely fill up the cranial cavity, unlike in most mammals,[9]: 81  and is lightened by large amounts of cerebrospinal fluid. It is possible that the fluid protects the brain when animal falls from a tree.[21]: 52–53  The koala's small brain size may be an adaptation to the energy restrictions imposed by its diet, which is insufficient to sustain a larger brain.[9]: 81  Because of its small brain, the koala has a limited ability to perform complex, unusual behaviours. For example, it will not eat plucked leaves on a flat surface, which conflicts with its normal feeding routine.[16]: 234 

The koala has a broad, dark nose[33] with a good sense of smell, and it is known to sniff the oils of individual branchlets to assess their edibility.[9]: 81  Its relatively small eyes are unusual among marsupials in that the pupils have vertical slits,[29] an adaptation to living on a more vertical plane. Its round ears provide it with good hearing,[33][21]: 6  and it has a well-developed middle ear.[13] The koala larynx is located relatively low in the vocal tract and can be pulled down even further. They also possess unique folds in the velum (soft palate), known as velar vocal folds, in addition to the typical vocal folds of the larynx. These features allow the koala to produce deeper sounds than would be possible for their size.[34][35]

 Teeth of a koala, from left to right: molars, premolars (dark), diastema, canines, incisors

The koala has several adaptations for its poor, toxic and fibrous diet.[9]: 76  The animal's dentition consists of the incisors and cheek teeth (a single premolar and four molars on each jaw), which are separated by a large gap (a characteristic feature of herbivorous mammals). The koala bites a leaf with the incisors and clips it with the premolars at the petiole, before chewing it to pieces with the cusped molars.[21]: 46  Koalas may also store food in their cheek pouches before it is ready to be chewed.[36] The partially worn molars of koalas in their prime are optimal for breaking the leaves into small particles, resulting in more efficient stomach digestion and nutrient absorption in the small intestine,[16]: 231  which digests the eucalyptus leaves to provide most of the animal's energy.[21]: 47  A koala sometimes regurgitates the food into the mouth to be chewed a second time.[37]

Koalas are hindgut fermenters, and their digestive retention can last for up to 100 hours in the wild or up to 200 hours in captivity.[21]: 48  This is made possible by their caecum — 200 cm (80 in) long and 10 cm (4 in) in diameter — possibly the largest for an animal when accounting for its size.[2]: 188  Koalas can hold food particles for longer fermentation if needed. They are more likely keep smaller particles as larger ones take longer to digest.[21]: 48  While the hindgut is relatively large, only 10% of the animal's energy is obtained from digestion in this chamber. The koala's metabolic rate is only 50% of the typical mammalian rate, owing to its low energy intake,[9]: 77–78  although this can vary between seasons and sexes.[21]: 49  They can digest the toxic plant secondary metabolites, phenolic compounds and terpenes present in eucalyptus leaves due to their production of cytochrome P450, which breaks down these poisons in the liver.[38] The koala replaces lost water at a lower rate than some other species like some possums.[16]: 231  It maintains water by absorbing it in the caecum, resulting in drier faecal pellets packed with undigested fibre.[16]: 231 [2]: 188 

Distribution and habitat

 Koala in tree in South Australia

The koala's geographic range covers roughly 1,000,000 km2 (390,000 sq mi), and 30 ecoregions.[39] It ranges throughout mainland eastern and southeastern Australia, including the states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. The koala was also introduced to several nearby islands.[1] The population on Magnetic Island represents the northern limit of its range.[39] Fossil evidence shows that the koala's range stretched as far west as southwestern Western Australia during the late Pleistocene. They were likely driven to extinction in these areas by environmental changes and hunting by Indigenous Australians.[21]: 12–13  Koalas were introduced to Western Australia at Yanchep in 2022.[40] Koalas can be found in both tropical and temperate habitats ranging from dense woodlands to more spaced-out forests.[29] In semi-arid climates, they prefer riparian habitats, where nearby streams and creeks provide refuge during times of drought and extreme heat.[41]

Behaviour and ecology

Foraging and activities

 Foraging

Koalas are herbivorous, and while most of their diet consists of eucalypt leaves, they can be found in trees of other genera, such as Acacia, Allocasuarina, Callitris, Leptospermum, and Melaleuca.[9]: 73  Though the foliage of over 600 species of Eucalyptus is available, the koala shows a strong preference for around 30.[42] They prefer plant matter with higher protein over fibre and lignin.[16]: 231  The most favoured species are Eucalyptus microcorys, E. tereticornis, and E. camaldulensis, which, on average, make up more than 20% of their diet.[43] Despite its reputation as a picky eater, the koala is more generalist than some other marsupial species, such as the greater glider. The koala does not need to drink often as it can get enough water in the eucalypt leaves,[9]: 73–74  though larger males may additionally drink water found on the ground or in tree hollows.[16]: 231  When feeding, a koala reaches out to grab leaves with one forepaw while the other paws hang on to the branch. Depending on the size of the individual, a koala can walk to the end of a branch or must stay near the base.[9]: 96  Each day, koalas eat up to 400 grams (14 oz) of leaves, spread over four to six feeding periods.[2]: 187  Despite their adaptations to a low-energy lifestyle, they have meagre fat reserves and need to feed often.[2]: 189 

Due to their low-energy diet, koalas limit their activity and sleep 20 hours a day.[9]: 93 [44] They are predominantly active at night and spend most of their waking hours foraging. They typically eat and sleep in the same tree, possibly for as long as a day.[21]: 39  On warm days, a koala may rest with its back against a branch or lie down with its limbs dangling.[9]: 93–94  When it gets very hot, the koala rests lower in the canopy and near the trunk, where the surface is cooler than the surrounding air.[45] It curls up when it gets cold and wet.[21]: 39  A koala will find a lower, thicker branch on which to rest when it gets windy. While it spends most of the time in the tree, the animal descends to the ground to move to another tree, leaping along.[9]: 93–94  The koala usually grooms itself with its hind paws, with their double claws, but sometimes uses its forepaws or mouth.[9]: 97–98 

Social life

 

Resting

 Duration: 37 seconds.0:37

A bellowing male in the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Koalas are asocial animals and spend just 15 minutes a day on social behaviours. Where there are more koalas and fewer trees, home ranges are smaller and more clumped while the reverse is true for areas with fewer animals and more trees.[9]: 98  Koala society appears to consist of "residents" and "transients", the former being mostly adult females and the latter males. Resident males appear to be territorial and dominant.[46] The territories of dominant males are found near breeding females, while younger males must wait until they reach full size to challenge for breeding rights.[2]: 191  Adult males occasionally venture outside their home ranges; when they do so, dominant ones retain their status.[9]: 99  As a male climbs a new tree, he rubs his chest against it and sometimes dribbles urine. This scent-marking behaviour probably serves as communication, and individuals are known to sniff the bottom of a newly found tree.[21]: 54–56 [47] Chest gland secretions are complex chemical mixtures — about 40 compounds were identified in one analysis — that vary in composition and concentration with the season and the age of the individual.[48]

 Scent gland on the chest of an adult male. Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Adult males communicate with loud bellows — "a long series of deep, snoring inhalations and belching exhalations".[49] Because of their low frequency, these bellows can travel far through the forest.[21]: 56  Koalas may bellow at any time of the year, particularly during the breeding season, when it serves to attract females and possibly intimidate other males.[50] They also bellow to advertise their presence to their neighbours when they climb a different tree.[21]: 57  These sounds signal the male's actual body size, as well as exaggerate it;[51] females pay more attention to bellows that originate from larger males.[52] Female koalas bellow, though more softly, in addition to making snarls, wails, and screams. These calls are produced when in distress and when making defensive threats.[49] Squeaking and sqawking are produced when distraught; the former is made by younger animals and the latter by older ones. When another individual climbs over it, a koala makes a low closed-mouth grunt.[9]: 102–03 [49] Koalas also communicate with facial expressions. When snarling, wailing, or squawking, the animal curls the upper lip and points its ears forward. Screaming koalas pull their lips and ears back. Females form an oval shape with their lips when annoyed.[9]: 104–05 

Agonistic behaviour typically consists of quarrels between individuals that are trying to pass each other in the tree. This occasionally involves biting. Strangers may wrestle, chase, and bite each other.[9]: 102 [53] In extreme situations, a male may try to displace a smaller rival from a tree, chasing, cornering and biting it. Once the individual is driven away, the victor bellows and marks the tree.[9]: 101–02  Pregnant and lactating females are particularly aggressive and attack individuals that come too close.[53] In general, however, koalas tend to avoid fighting due to energy costs.[2]: 191 

Reproduction and development

 A young joey, preserved at Port Macquarie Koala Hospital

Koalas are seasonal breeders, and give birth from October to May. Females in oestrus lean their heads back and shake their bodies. Despite these obvious signals, males will try to copulate with any female during this period, mounting them from behind. Because of his much larger size, a male can overpower a female. A female may scream and vigorously fight off her suitors but will accede to one that is dominant or familiar. The commotion can attract other males to the scene, obliging the incumbent to delay mating and fight off the intruders. A female may learn who is more dominant during these fights.[21]: 58–60  Older males usually have accumulated scratches, scars, and cuts on the exposed parts of their noses and their eyelids.[2]: 192 

Koalas are induced ovulators.[54] The gestation period lasts 33–35 days,[55] and a female gives birth to one joey (although twins do occur). As marsupials, the young are born tiny and barely formed, weighing no more than 0.5 g (0.02 oz). However, their lips, forelimbs, and shoulders are relatively advanced, and they can breathe, defecate and urinate. The joey crawls into its mother's pouch to continue the rest of its development.[21]: 61  Female koalas do not clean their pouches, an unusual trait among marsupials.[2]: 181 

The joey latches on to one of the female's two teats and suckles it.[21]: 61  The female lactates for as long as a year to make up for her low energy production. Unlike in other marsupials, koala milk becomes less fatty as the joey grows in the pouch.[21]: 62  After seven weeks, the joey has a proportionally large head, clear edges around its face, more colouration, and a visible pouch (if female) or scrotum (male). At 13 weeks, the joey weighs around 50 g (1.8 oz) and its head is twice as big as before. The eyes begin to open and hair begins to appear. At 26 weeks, the fully furred animal resembles an adult and can look outside the pouch.[21]: 63 

 Mother with joey on back

At six or seven months of age, the joey weighs 300–500 g (11–18 oz) and fully emerges from the pouch for the first time. It explores its new surroundings cautiously, clutching its mother for support.[21]: 65  Around this time, the mother prepares it for a eucalyptus diet by producing a faecal pap that the joey eats from her cloaca. This pap comes from the cecum, is more liquid than regular faeces, and is filled with bacteria.[56] A nine month old joey has its adult coat colour and weighs 1 kg (2.2 lb). Having permanently left the pouch, it rides on its mother's back for transportation, learning to climb by grasping branches.[21]: 65–66  Gradually, it becomes more independent from its mother, who becomes pregnant again after a year, and the young is now around 2.5 kg (5.5 lb). Her bond with her previous offspring is permanently severed and she no longer allows it to suckle, but it will stay nearby until it is one-and-a-half to two years old.[21]: 66–67 

Females become sexually mature at about three years of age and can then become pregnant; in comparison, males reach sexual maturity when they are about four years old,[57] although they can experience spermatogenesis as early as two years.[21]: 68  Males do not start marking their scent until they reach sexual maturity, though their chest glands become functional much earlier.[48] Koalas can breed every year if environmental conditions are good, though the long dependence of the young usually leads to year-long gaps in births.[16]: 236 

Health and mortality

Koalas may live from 13 to 18 years in the wild. While female koalas usually live this long, males may die sooner because of their more risky lives.[21]: 69  Koalas usually survive falls from trees and can climb back up, but they can get hurt and even die, particularly inexperienced young and fighting males.[21]: 72–73  Around six years of age, the koala's chewing teeth begin to wear down and their chewing efficiency decreases. Eventually, the cusps disappear completely and the animal will die of starvation.[58] Koalas have few predators. Dingos and large pythons and some birds of prey may take them. Koalas are generally not subject to external parasites, other than ticks around the coast. The mite Sarcoptes scabiei gives koalas mange, while the bacterium Mycobacterium ulcerans skin ulcers, but even these are uncommon. Internal parasites are few and have little effect.[21]: 71–74  These include the tapeworm Bertiella obesa, commonly found in the intestine, and the nematodes Marsupostrongylus longilarvatus and Durikainema phascolarcti, which are infrequently found in the lungs.[59] In a three-year study of almost 600 koalas taken to the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital in Queensland, 73.8% of the animals were infected with parasitic protozoal genus Trypanosoma, the most frequent of which was T. irwini.[60]

Koalas can be subject to pathogens such as Chlamydiaceae bacteria,[21]: 74–75  which can cause keratoconjunctivitis, urinary tract infection, and reproductive tract infection.[9]: 229–30  Such infections are common on the mainland, but absent in some island populations.[21]: 114  The koala retrovirus (KoRV) may cause koala immune deficiency syndrome (KIDS) which is similar to AIDS in humans. Prevalence of KoRV in koala populations suggests a trend spreading from north to south, where populations go from being completely infected to being partially uninfected.[61]

The animals are vulnerable to bushfires due to their slow speed and the flammability of eucalypt trees.[21]: 26  The koala instinctively seeks refuge in the higher branches, where it is vulnerable to intense heat and flames. Bushfires also break up the animal's habitat, which isolates them, decreases their numbers and creates genetic bottlenecks.[2]: 209–11  Dehydration and overheating can also prove fatal.[9]: 80  Consequently, the koala is vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Models of climate change in Australia predict warmer and drier climates, suggesting that the koala's range will shrink in the east and south to more mesic habitats.[62]

Human relations

History

 George Perry's illustration in his 1810 Arcana was the first published image of the koala.

The first written reference to the koala was recorded by John Price, servant of John Hunter, the Governor of New South Wales. Price encountered the "cullawine" on 26 January 1798, during an expedition to the Blue Mountains,[63] but his remarks would first be published in Historical Records of Australia, nearly a century later.[2]: 8  In 1802, French-born explorer Francis Louis Barrallier encountered the animal when his two Aboriginal guides, returning from a hunt, brought back two koala feet they were intending to eat. Barrallier preserved the appendages and sent them and his notes to Hunter's successor, Philip Gidley King, who forwarded them to Joseph Banks. Similar to Price, Barrallier's notes were not published until 1897.[2]: 9–10  Reports of the "Koolah" appeared in the Sydney Gazette in late 1803, and helped provide the impetus for King to send the artist John Lewin to paint watercolours of the animal. Lewin painted three pictures, one of which was used as a print in Georges Cuvier's Le Règne Animal (The Animal Kingdom) (1827).[2]: 12–13 

Botanist Robert Brown was the first to write a formal scientific description of the koala in 1803, based on a female specimen captured near what is now Mount Kembla in the Illawarra region of New South Wales. Austrian botanical illustrator Ferdinand Bauer drew the animal's skull, throat, feet, and paws. Brown's work remained unpublished and largely unnoticed, however, as his field books and notes remained in his possession until his death, when they were bequeathed to the British Museum (Natural History) in London. They were not identified until 1994, while Bauer's koala watercolours were not published until 1989.[2]: 16–28  William Paterson, who had befriended Brown and Bauer during their stay in New South Wales, wrote an eyewitness report of his encounters with the animals and this would be the basis for British surgeon Everard Home's anatomical writings on them.[2]: 33–36  Home, who in 1808 published his report in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society,[64] coined the scientific name Didelphis coola.[2]: 36 

George Perry would officially publish the first image of the koala in his 1810 natural history work Arcana.[2]: 37  Perry called it the "New Holland Sloth", and his dislike for the koala, evident in his description of the animal, was reflected in the contemporary British attitudes towards Australian animals as strange and primitive:[2]: 40 

... the eye is placed like that of the Sloth, very close to the mouth and nose, which gives it a clumsy awkward appearance, and void of elegance in the combination ... they have little either in their character or appearance to interest the Naturalist or Philosopher. As Nature however provides nothing in vain, we may suppose that even these torpid, senseless creatures are wisely intended to fill up one of the great links of the chain of animated nature ...[65]

 Natural history illustrator John Gould popularised the koala with his 1863 work The Mammals of Australia.

Naturalist and popular artist John Gould illustrated and described the koala in his three-volume work The Mammals of Australia (1845–1863) and introduced the species, as well as other members of Australia's little-known faunal community, to the public.[2]: 87–93  Comparative anatomist Richard Owen, in a series of publications on the physiology and anatomy of Australian mammals, presented a paper on the anatomy of the koala to the Zoological Society of London.[66] In this widely cited publication, he provided an early description of its internal anatomy, and noted its general structural similarity to the wombat.[2]: 94–96  English naturalist George Robert Waterhouse, curator of the Zoological Society of London, was the first to correctly classify the koala as a marsupial in the 1840s, and compared it to fossil species Diprotodon and Nototherium, which had been discovered just recently.[2]: 46–48  Similarly, Gerard Krefft, curator of the Australian Museum in Sydney, noted evolutionary mechanisms at work when comparing the koala to fossil marsupials in his 1871 The Mammals of Australia.[2]: 103–105 

Britain finally received a living koala in 1881, which was obtained by the Zoological Society of London. As related by prosecutor to the society, William Alexander Forbes, the animal suffered an accidental demise when the heavy lid of a washstand fell on it and it was unable to free itself. Forbes dissected the fresh specimen and wrote about the female reproductive system, the brain, and the liver — parts not previously described by Owen, who had access only to preserved specimens.[2]: 105–06  Scottish embryologist William Caldwell — well known in scientific circles for determining the reproductive mechanism of the platypus — described the uterine development of the koala in 1884,[67] and used this new information to convincingly map out the evolutionary timeline of the koala and the monotremes.[2]: 111 

Cultural significance

Main article: Koala emblems and popular culture

 

Koala souvenir soft toys are popular with tourists

 

Amy and Oliver the bronze koalas (by Glenys Lindsay)

The koala is well known worldwide and is a major draw for Australian zoos and wildlife parks. It has been featured in popular culture and as soft toys.[9]: ix  It benefited the Australian tourism industry by over $1 billion in 1998, and this has subsequently grown.[2]: 201  Its international popularly rose after World War II, when tourism to Australia increased and the animals were exported to zoos overseas.[9]: 156  In 1997, about 75% of European and Japanese tourists placed the koala at the top of their list of animals to see.[2]: 216  According to biologist Stephen Jackson: "If you were to take a straw poll of the animal most closely associated with Australia, it's a fair bet that the koala would come out marginally in front of the kangaroo".[9]: ix  Factors that contribute to the koala's enduring popularity include its teddy bear-like appearance with childlike body proportions.[21]: 3 

The koala is featured in the Dreamtime stories and mythology of Indigenous Australians. The Tharawal people believed that the animal helped them get to the continent by rowing the boat.[9]: 21  Another myth tells of how a tribe killed a koala and used its long intestines to create a bridge for people from other parts of the world.[21]: 17  How the koala lost its tail has been the subject of many tales. In one, a kangaroo cuts it off to punish the koala for its uncouth behaviour.[9]: 28  Tribes in both Queensland and Victoria regarded the koala as a wise animal which gave valuable guidance. Bidjara-speaking people credited the koala for making trees grow in their arid lands.[9]: 41–43  The animal is also depicted in rock carvings, though less so than some other species.[9]: 45–46 

Early European settlers in Australia considered the koala to be a creeping sloth-like animal with a "fierce and menacing look".[9]: 143  At the turn of the 20th century, the koala's reputation took a more positive turn. It appears in Ethel Pedley's 1899 book Dot and the Kangaroo, as the "funny native bear".[9]: 144  Artist Norman Lindsay depicted a more anthropomorphic koala in The Bulletin cartoons, starting in 1904. This character also appeared as Bunyip Bluegum in Lindsay's 1918 book The Magic Pudding.[9]: 147  The most well known fictional koala is Blinky Bill. Created by Dorothy Wall in 1933, the character appeared in several books and has been the subject of films, TV series, merchandise, and a 1986 environmental song by John Williamson.[9]: 149–52  The koala first appeared on an Australian stamp in 1930.[2]: 164 

 US President Barack Obama with a koala in Brisbane, Australia

The song "Ode to a Koala Bear" appears on the B-side of the 1983 Paul McCartney/Michael Jackson duet single Say Say Say.[9]: 151  A koala is the main character in Hanna-Barbera's The Kwicky Koala Show and Nippon Animation's Noozles, both of which were animated cartoons of the early 1980s. Food products shaped like the koala include the Caramello Koala chocolate bar and the bite-sized cookie snack Koala's March. Dadswells Bridge in Victoria features a tourist complex shaped like a giant koala[9]: 155–58  and the Queensland Reds rugby team has a koala as its icon.[9]: 160 

Koala diplomacy

Several political leaders and members of royal families had their pictures taken with koalas, including Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry, Crown Prince Naruhito, Crown Princess Masako, Pope John Paul II, US President Bill Clinton, Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev and South African President Nelson Mandela[9]: 156  At the 2014 G20 Brisbane summit, hosted by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, many world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama, were photographed holding koalas.[68][69] The event gave rise to the term "koala diplomacy",[70][71] which then became the Oxford Word of the Month for December 2016.[72] The term also includes the loan of koalas by the Australian government to overseas zoos in countries such as Singapore and Japan, as a form of "soft power diplomacy", like the "panda diplomacy" practised by China.[73][74]

Conservation

Main article: Koala conservation

 

Wikinews has related news: Koalas labeled as 'endangered' in eastern states of Australia

 Road sign depicting a koala and a kangaroo

The koala was originally classified as Least Concern on the Red List, and reassessed as Vulnerable in 2014.[1] In the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Queensland, the species was listed under the EPBC Act in February 2022 as endangered by extinction.[75][76] The described population was determined in 2012 to be "a species for the purposes of the EPBC Act 1999" in Federal legislation.[77]

Australian policymakers had declined a 2009 proposal to include the koala in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.[18] A 2017 WWF report found a 53% decline per generation in Queensland, and a 26% decline in New South Wales.[78] The koala population in South Australia and Victoria appear to be abundant; however, the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) argued that the exclusion of Victorian populations from protective measures was based on a misconception that the total koala population was 200,000, whereas they believed in 2012 that it was probably less than 100,000.[79] AKF estimated in 2022 that there could be only 43,000–100,000.[80] This is compared with 8 to 10 million at the start of the 20th century.[81][82] The Australian Government's Threatened Species Scientific Committee estimated that the 2021 koala population was 92,000, down from 185,000 two decades prior.[83]

The koala was heavily hunted by European settlers in the early 20th century,[2]: 121–128  largely for its fur. Australia exported as many as two million pelts by 1924. Koala furs were used to make rugs, coat linings, muffs, and on women's garment trimmings.[2]: 125  The first successful efforts at conserving the species were initiated by the establishment of Brisbane's Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and Sydney's Koala Park Sanctuary in the 1920s and 1930s. The owner of the latter park, Noel Burnet, created the first successful breeding program and earned a reputation as a top expert on the species.[2]: 157–159 

One of the biggest anthropogenic threats to the koala is habitat destruction and fragmentation. Near the coast, the main cause of this is urbanisation, while in rural areas, habitat is cleared for agriculture. Its favoured trees are also taken down to be made into wood products.[21]: 104–107  In 2000, Australia had the fifth highest rate of land clearance globally, having removed 564,800 hectares (1,396,000 acres) of native plants.[9]: 222  The distribution of the koala has shrunk by more than 50% since European arrival, largely due to fragmentation of habitat in Queensland.[39] Nevertheless, koalas live in many protected areas.[1]

While urbanisation can pose a threat to koala populations, the animals can survive in urban areas provided enough trees are present.[84] Urban populations have distinct vulnerabilities: collisions with vehicles and attacks by domestic dogs.[85] Cars and dogs kill about 4,000 animals every year.[86] To reduce road deaths, government agencies have been exploring various wildlife crossing options,[87][88] such as the use of fencing to channel animals toward an underpass, in some cases adding a ledge as a walkway to an existing culvert.[89][90] Injured koalas are often taken to wildlife hospitals and rehabilitation centres.[84] In a 30-year retrospective study performed at a New South Wales koala rehabilitation centre, trauma was found to be the most frequent cause of admission, followed by symptoms of Chlamydia infection.[91]

See also

Drop bear - a predatory and dangerous version of the koala in popular folklore

Fauna of Australia

List of monotremes and marsupials of Australia

Sam (koala), a female koala known for being rescued during the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009

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Perry, G. (1811). "Koalo, or New Holland Sloth". Arcana; or the Museum of Natural History: 109. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.

 

Owen, R. (1836). "Richard Owen, esq., in the chair". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 4 (1): 109–13. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1836.tb01376.x. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2018.

 

Caldwell, H. (1884). "On the arrangement of the embryonic membranes in marsupial mammals". Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science. s2–24 (96): 655–658. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2013.

 

Donnison, Jon (16 November 2014). "G20 summit: Koalas and 'shirtfronting'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2021.

 

Dimitrova, Kami (16 November 2014). "President Obama, Putin Cozy Up With Koalas at G20 Summit" Archived 3 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine. ABC News. Retrieved 23 February 2021.

 

Harris Rimmer, Susan (18 November 2014). "Koala diplomacy: Australian soft power saves the day at G20" Archived 27 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine. The Conversation. Retrieved 23 February 2021.

 

Arup, Tom (26 December 2014). "The rise and influence of koala diplomacy" Archived 17 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 February 2021.

 

"Oxford Word of the Month – December: koala diplomacy" Archived 17 March 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Oxford University Press, 28 November 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2021.

 

"Koala diplomacy as furry envoys return to Australia" Archived 13 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Media release, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 10 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2021.

 

Markwell, Kevin & Cushing, Nancy (20 May 2015). "Koalas, platypuses and pandas and the power of soft diplomacy" Archived 5 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine. The Conversation. Retrieved 23 February 2021.

 

"Phascolarctos cinereus (combined populations of Qld, NSW and the ACT) — Koala (combined populations of Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory)". SPRAT. Australian Government. 2022. Archived from the original on 11 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.

 

Cox, Lisa (11 February 2022). "Koala listed as endangered after Australian governments fail to halt its decline". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022.

 

Burke, Tony (27 April 2012). "Determination that a distinct population of biological entities is a species for the purposes of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (132)". Australian Government - Federal Register of Legislation. Archived from the original on 12 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.

 

Christine Adams-Hosking (May 2017). Current status of the koala in Queensland and New South Wales (Report). WWF Australia. Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

 

"Koalas added to threatened species list". ABC. 30 April 2012. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.

 

"Koala declared endangered as disease, lost habitat take toll". AP News. 11 February 2022. Archived from the original on 13 February 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.

 

Buchholz, Katharina (27 November 2019). "Infographic: The Worrying Decline of Koala Populations". Statista Infographics. Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2022.

 

"Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) Fact Sheet: Population & Conservation Status". San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. June 2021. Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2022.

 

"Australia warns koalas 'endangered' as numbers plunge". Phys.org. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.

 

Holtcamp, W. (5 January 2007). "Will Urban Sprawl KO the Koala?". National Wildlife. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.

 

"Cars and dogs threaten koala future". University of Queensland News. 14 February 2006. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.

 

Foden, W.; Stuart, S. N. (2009). Species and Climate Change: More than Just the Polar Bear (PDF) (Report). IUCN Species Survival Commission. pp. 36–37. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2016.

 

How to keep koalas off the road - Koala Vehicle Strike Fact sheet 2 (PDF). June 2020. ISBN 978-1-922431-20-2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)

 

"Koalas and resilient habitat in the Sutherland Shire". Sutherland Shire Environment Centre. September 2021. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.

 

Moore, Tony (26 July 2016). "Koalas tunnels and bridges prove effective on busy roads". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.

 

"Clever koalas learn to cross the road safely". BBC News. 27 July 2016. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.

 

Griffith, J. E.; Dhand, N. K.; Krockenberger, M. B.; Higgins, D. P. (2013). "A retrospective study of admission trends of koalas to a rehabilitation facility over 30 years" (PDF). Journal of Wildlife Diseases. 49 (1): 18–28. doi:10.7589/2012-05-135. hdl:2123/14628. PMID 23307368. S2CID 32878079. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2019.

External links

 

Wikispecies has information related to Phascolarctos cinereus.

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Phascolarctos cinereus.

 

Wikisource has the text of the 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article Koala.

 

Look up koala in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Arkive – images and movies of the koala Phascolarctos cinereus

Animal Diversity Web – Phascolarctos cinereus

iNaturalist crowdsourced koala sighting photos (mapped, graphed)

Koala Science Community Archived 5 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine

"Koala Crunch Time" – an ABC documentary (2012)

"Koalas deserve full protection"

Cracking the Koala Code – a PBS Nature documentary (2012)

The Aussie Koala Ark Conservation Project Archived 12 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine

 

 

 

 

Last edited 29 minutes ago by WatkynBassett

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 Dragonesque brooch

... that if the double-headed Romano-British dragonesque brooch type (example pictured) represents any real animal, it may be hares rather than dragons?

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... that the Cross Temple in Fangshan, Beijing, is the only surviving Nestorian Christian site in China?

... that Switch Disco's song "Everything" saw a 185-percent increase in its Spotify streams after it was used in the seventh series of Love Island?

... that after popularizing the term rizz, Kai Cenat stopped using the term himself, saying that TikTok had butchered the word?

... that Forbes said of the Jetson One aircraft, "Flying Cars Are Here"?

... that after accepting the job of team physician for the Green Bay Packers in 1962, E. S. Brusky was not paid a salary for at least the first nine years of his tenure?

... that examples of artificial planets in science fiction include Riverworld, the Well World, and the Death Star?

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 "Am I not a man and a brother", emblem used by abolitionists

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1808 – As a result of the lobbying efforts by the abolitionist movement (emblem pictured), the importation of slaves into the United States was officially banned, although slavery itself was not yet abolished.

1914 – The St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line in the U.S. state of Florida became the first scheduled airline using a winged aircraft.

1957 – The revised Thai criminal code came into force, strengthening the law on lèse-majesté in Thailand to include insult and treating it as a crime against national security.

2019 – The NASA space probe New Horizons flew by the trans-Neptunian object Arrokoth, making it the farthest object visited by a spacecraft.

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 Al Dexter

In 1944, the American magazine Billboard published its first chart ranking the top-performing country music songs in the United States, under the title Most Played Juke Box Folk Records. The Juke Box Folk listing was compiled based on reports from "Billboard representatives" detailing the most-played songs of the genre in jukeboxes from "all the country's leading operating centers", which were averaged to give an overall chart. The first number-one song listed was "Pistol Packin' Mama", which remained in the top spot for the first seven weeks. The song, originally recorded by Al Dexter (pictured) in 1942, had remained hugely popular ever since, and been recorded by many different singers. Dexter was the artist with the most different songs at number one in 1944, topping the chart with "Pistol Packin' Mama", "Rosalita", "Too Late to Worry" and "So Long Pal". Red Foley had the longest unbroken run at number one, spending thirteen consecutive weeks in the top spot in the fall with the patriotic wartime song "Smoke on the Water". (Full list...)

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 Duration: 7 minutes and 47 seconds.7:47

Steamboat Willie is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It marks Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse's first appearance in a distributed film. Mickey Mouse was created as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, created by the Disney studio but owned at the time by Universal Pictures, and when two silent films featuring Mickey failed to gain a distributor, Walt Disney decided instead to put him in a sound cartoon – perhaps inspired by The Jazz Singer. With music arranged by Wilfred Jackson and Bert Lewis, Steamboat Willie was one of the first cartoons with synchronized sound. The film received wide critical acclaim upon its release, and it has been preserved in the United States National Film Registry for its significance. The film enters the public domain under U.S. copyright law today (January 1, 2024), 95 years after its release in 1928.

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Kapitel 381: January 2, 2024 | Part I

Today's featured article

The Masked Singer (American TV series)

 

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For the most recent season, see The Masked Singer (American season 10).

The Masked Singer (abbreviated as TMS[1]) is an American reality singing competition television series that premiered on Fox on January 2, 2019. It is part of the Masked Singer franchise which began in South Korea and features celebrities singing songs while wearing head-to-toe costumes and face masks concealing their identities. Hosted by Nick Cannon, the program employs panelists who guess the celebrities' identities by interpreting clues provided to them throughout each season. Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Nicole Scherzinger, and Robin Thicke appear in each episode and vote alongside an audience for their favorite singer after all performances have concluded. The least popular is eliminated, taking off their mask to reveal their identity.

The Masked Singer

 

Genre

Reality competition

Based on

King of Mask Singer

by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation

Developed by

Craig Plestis

Directed by

Alex Rudzinski

Brad Duns

Presented by

Nick Cannon

Starring

Ken Jeong

Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg

Nicole Scherzinger

Robin Thicke

Opening theme

"Who Are You"

by the Who

Country of origin

United States

Original language

English

No. of seasons

10

No. of episodes

136 (list of episodes)

Production

Executive producers

Craig Plestis

Izzie Pick Ibarra

Rosie Seitchik

Nick Cannon

James Breen

Running time

41–85 minutes

Production companies

Endemol Shine North America (season 1)

Fox Alternative Entertainment (season 2–present)

Smart Dog Media

MBC

Original release

Network

Fox

Release

January 2, 2019 –

present

Related

The Masked Singer: After the Mask

The Masked Dancer

To prevent their identities from being revealed before each prerecorded episode is broadcast, the program makes extensive use of code names, disguises, non-disclosure agreements, and a team of security guards. While television critics have had mixed reviews for the series and particularly negative opinions of its panelists, the costumes have attracted praise. Inspired by haute couture, they were designed in the first six seasons by Marina Toybina, who won a Costume Designers Guild Award and a Creative Arts Emmy Award. Other production staff won or received nominations for various labor union awards, and the show has won or been nominated for awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Critics Choice Association, and Hollywood Critics Association.

The first five seasons received the highest Nielsen ratings for a non-sports program in the key demographic of adults 18–49. Two spin-offs—an aftershow and a dance version, The Masked Dancer—followed as a result. The growth of the Masked Singer franchise has been credited to the show's success, as has an interest in adapting similar South Korean reality television series and other television formats centered on costumes. Media and merchandise associated with the series includes a podcast, clothing, accessories, NFTs, and a stage show. In May 2023, the series was renewed for a tenth season, which premiered in September 2023. In September 2023, an eleventh season was announced, which will premiere in March 2024.[2]

Format

Each season of The Masked Singer features a group of celebrity contestants. In a typical episode, four to six contestants each sing a 90-second[3] cover for panelists and an audience anonymously in costume. Hints to their identities—known as the "clue package"—are given before and occasionally after each performs. The perennial format is a taped interview with a celebrity's electronically masked voice narrating a video showing cryptic allusions to what they are known for. During screenings of the clue packages, after performances, and before an elimination, the panelists are given time to speculate on each singer's identity out loud and write comments in note binders. They may ask questions and the host may offer additional clues. After performances conclude, the audience and panelists vote for their favorite singer using an electronic device. The show uses a weighted voting system; panelists' and audience members' votes are worth 50 percent each and combined to form a score.[4] The least popular contestant then takes off their mask to reveal their identity. This process of elimination continues for a set number of episodes until three contestants remain in the season finale, and one is declared the winner after they perform again. The "Golden Mask" trophy is awarded as a prize.

Voting does not occur for certain performances; contestants in an episode might occasionally sing as a group, and each episode concludes with the eliminated celebrity singing an encore unmasked. To continue attracting viewers, producers often modify the format each season.[5][6] Except in the first, fifth and sixth seasons, a "smackdown" round is featured in select episodes in which the two least popular competitors from their first performances sing one after another on the same stage, and a second, eliminating vote occurs. Since the second season, the contestants are initially divided and only compete in a designated subgroup. A "Golden Ear" trophy awarded to the panelist with the most correct first impression guesses at the end of a season was introduced for the fourth, and until the sixth, as was a reduction of performances and the audience viewing and voting remotely.[7][8] These elements continued in the fifth seasons, and "wildcard" contestants who perform at the end of certain episodes competed for the first time.[6]

Panelists and host

The permanent panel consists of actor and comedian Ken Jeong, television personality Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, recording artist Nicole Scherzinger, and singer-songwriter Robin Thicke.[9][10] A guest occasionally appears as a fifth panelist during an episode;[11] Joel McHale has served as a guest panelist in almost every season,[12] and previous seasons' winners have appeared.[13] Nick Cannon hosts the show; his role was considered unclear in July 2020 after making anti-Semitic statements Fox said "inadvertently promoted hate".[9][14] The network accepted Cannon's apology,[9][14] and he pledged to donate his first paycheck from the fourth season to the Simon Wiesenthal Center after visiting with its officials.[15][16] Niecy Nash acted as guest host for the first five episodes of the fifth season after Cannon tested positive for COVID-19.[5] On September 13, 2023, Fox announced that recording artist Rita Ora, a panelist on the British version of the show, will substitute for Nicole Scherzinger during season 11, while Scherzinger appears in the West End revival of Sunset Boulevard during production.[17]

Production

Conception and development

I turned around and all the diners were watching the TV screen. I saw a kangaroo in black pleather singing a pop song. At that moment I said, "Oh my gosh, I love this!" It was bizarre ... and it was still working. I found out that it was a hit format in Korea, it was a hit show in Thailand. And no one had the [U.S.] rights.

—Plestis on the creation of The Masked Singer.[18]

The Masked Singer is based on the 2015 South Korean television series King of Mask Singer, which is the originator of the Masked Singer franchise. Executive producer Craig Plestis noticed the format in October 2017 at a Thai restaurant in Los Angeles.[19][20] While waiting for dinner, he observed the other patrons staring at a television playing an episode of the Thai version of the show. Intrigued, Plestis researched the series online and contacted an executive of MBC America, a subsidiary of the producer and broadcaster of the South Korean program, Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC).[21] With the help of his agent, Steve Wohl of Paradigm Talent Agency, Plestis secured the rights to produce an American adaptation from the company.[18] Following the creation of a showreel, he pitched the series to several outlets, all of whom rejected the idea.[21] Plestis then met with Fox executive Rob Wade who said he "responded ... right away" to the concept and considered its uniqueness among celebrity singing competitions a strength.[18][21] After successfully pitching the program under the condition A-list celebrities participate,[22][20] Plestis began developing it in November.[23]

In January 2018, executive producer and showrunner Izzie Pick Ibarra became involved to help cast celebrities and Americanize the format.[22][24] While The Masked Singer retains elements of the South Korean version, the structure and style are different.[25] Rather than follow a tournament process in which singers perform against each other in multiple rounds, with the winner of the final round facing the previous episode's champion in an attempt to become the new "Mask King", Pick Ibarra opted to produce one elimination per episode, emphasize the clue package and guessing components, and have the celebrities wear more extravagant costumes.[22][26] Plestis agreed, wanting to create a story arc throughout the episodes and—unlike the South Korean show—reuse the costumes.[18] During performances, the production value is emphasized rather than panelists guessing which celebrity is singing.[25]

On August 2, 2018, Fox ordered the series and released a trailer.[27][28] Endemol Shine North America produced the first season due to Plestis' relationship with the studio. Following it, production transitioned to a new in-house studio, Fox Alternative Entertainment, which is more financially favorable for the network.[29][30] Since the second and third seasons, respectively, Rosie Seitchik and Cannon have served as executive producers alongside Plestis. Pick Ibarra exited the series following the third and James Breen assumed her roles in subsequent seasons.[31][32] Numerous production and format changes were implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and testing and safety requirements increased the show's budget.[7][33]

Casting

Since signing a deal with him in 2018, Fox offered Cannon multiple opportunities to host or produce other television programs, though none interested him. After being fascinated by the Masked Singer concept when presented with it, Cannon joined the show, believing it was "either going to be a huge failure or a huge hit".[34] Pick Ibarra cited him as her number one choice for the role because of his personality and experience. Regarding the panelists, she said the production team was less concerned with selecting those with an ability to critique participants' singing abilities than creating a comedic tone for the series as one of their goals was to reassure celebrities they would not be ridiculed for appearing.[35] Jeong was the first panelist to be signed on due to his humour and pre-existing knowledge of the South Korean version, followed by McCarthy Wahlberg and Thicke because of their enthusiasm regarding the concept, and Scherzinger for her positivity and experience as a singer. According to Plestis, he "only wanted [to cast] people who loved the program, not people who wanted to work on [it]".[20][35] Unsure whether it would last more than one season, Jeong originally considered The Masked Singer a temporary job while he looked for a permanent role following the cancellation of his sitcom Dr. Ken.[5] Thicke later questioned whether he would have taken the role "if [he had] still been No. 1 on the radio"[36] and Scherzinger said she signed on to the show the day before filming began.[37] In March 2019, Sharon Osbourne stated she was supposed to be signed on as a panelist, claiming those plans fell through when she was being contractually obligated to appear as a judge on The X Factor.[38]

The show's producers reach out to celebrities via agents or vice versa.[39][40] Wade said producers' goal is to cast celebrities of varying ages, genders, and backgrounds to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. In addition to "super big names", they prefer lesser-known celebrities because it is harder to guess them.[41] To surprise viewers with an unknown talent when unmasked, those who are not professional singers are desired,[42] though some must send producers recordings of them singing as a quasi-audition.[43] All are given questionnaires before competing and asked if they have claustrophobia.[44] Due to her strategy of sending potential participants sketches of costumes that might be featured, Pick Ibarra said casting for the first season "was not nearly as hard as [she] anticipated", though several celebrities were reluctant to compete.[35] Following its success, an increased number were interested in participating in the second.[4] By the third, Plestis said casting became "a lot easier".[45]

Security

Before each participant is unmasked, the show's staff undertake significant security precautions to prevent the release of their identities.[22] According to Plestis, the series has two bibles: one related to the format and a second, larger one for security measures. Everyone involved signs a non-disclosure agreement which prevents them from releasing information about the show until its broadcast. After a celebrity is confirmed to appear, they are allowed to inform a few others who also sign one.[46][47] Outside of those, approximately 25 people know the contestants' real names during a season, though they never refer to them as such.[48] Most are from Fox and the show's legal department; Cannon, the director, and the majority of the program's 150-person crew do not know who the celebrities are until they are unmasked. To prevent identities from being revealed in the event of a leak or hack, all documents except the contract only list participants' costume names. Although the contracts do give their real names, the series' name is unlisted.[48][49][50] If a leak occurs, the network does not recognize it.[51]

 The front of hoodies celebrities wear while off camera[46]

Before arriving on the show's set, celebrities and their family, friends, and agents are disguised and typically driven from a neutral location.[46] If driven from their houses, chauffeurs are instructed to "take long, circuitous routes ... to throw off any would-be tails".[52] The manager of Joey Fatone, "Rabbit" in the first season, said he was picked up at a 7-Eleven near Television City, given a disguise, and driven inside the gate.[35] "Flamingo" in the second season, Adrienne Bailon-Houghton, stated she was taken to the set inside of an unmarked black car and only discussed her involvement on the show with producers in a "secret warehouse".[22] When contestants arrive on the studio lot, personnel at the gate are not given their names.[43] Each participant is escorted to and from their trailers outside of the set by security guards while disguised with a mask, visor, gloves, pants, and a hoodie to prevent their skin from showing.[46][52] According to Scherzinger, they also escort panelists directly to their dressing rooms after arriving.[53]

Due to the show's security, celebrities said they never encountered another masked participant on set, or if they did, could not speak to them.[54][55] They are only allowed to communicate with those who wear a special cloth on the back of their clothing which is changed each season to prevent replication or those who wear a shirt with the words "Talk to Me".[43][56] To do so, they use a portable voice changer or write on a whiteboard.[56] Before performing, they are trained to use different body language and mannerisms than their own.[48] The production crew is discouraged from using their phones during filming[43] and the studio audience walks through a metal detector and has their phones placed in a Yondr magnetic pouch before entering the set.[22] The panelists also forfeit their phones during tapings, and their note binders are placed "in a vault" after each to keep them private.[57]

Design

Costumes

 L–R: "Fox", "Butterfly", "Monster", "Kitty", and "Robot". "Robot" competed in an episode that won Toybina a Creative Arts Emmy Award.[58][59]

The series' costumes are designed by Marina Toybina. In addition to her ideas, she considers celebrities' and producers' requests to formulate initial concepts.[60][61] Each is designed to be dissimilar from those featured in previous seasons and other versions of the Masked Singer franchise by using different sewing and fabrication techniques.[61][62] After researching "fur and skin textures, historical wardrobe, [and] anything that might be relevant to each character",[61] Toybina sketches each concept with a pencil and works with an illustrator to create a digital version with a 3D effect.[63][64] Producers review each design and note adjustments to be made. As a result, Toybina may sketch multiple versions before they collectively decide which will be featured during a season. Based on their background and what might suit them well, participants are presented with several to select from.[61][63] Their reason for choosing a costume can differ; some have an emotional connection[43][65] while others want to move around freely during performances.[54]

 Marina Toybina designed the costumes in the first six seasons

After handpicking which fabrics and materials to use based on celebrities' mobility and performing abilities,[62] Toybina collaborates with manufacturers and a team of about 15 people to custom-make each costume.[63][64] They are created concurrently over two to three months, taking about two to four weeks per mask, and two to four weeks per costume.[64][66] Beginning as a wire, foam is gradually added around each mask to create an easy-to-wear helmet shape for the performers[67][68] and a chinstrap often accompanies each to prevent movement.[61] As production time is limited, the team has no opportunity to experiment with different materials—"all garments are ... cut right away on the original fabric".[63] Since "the draping and the handwork [are] all done the old school way",[69] she cited couturiers such as Alexander McQueen, Thierry Mugler, and Hussein Chalayan as inspirations.[60][70] 3D printing was used for the first time in the fourth season, and the first two-person costume, the first with animatronics, and the first puppet costume were featured.[7][10] Although adjustments may be made to customize them to celebrities' likings, most costumes turn out identical to her sketches.[64][70]

A maximum of two fittings are conducted with each celebrity[62][71] at either the costume shop or Toybina's studio[70] in which a "limited number of people" are present.[64] Before filming occurs, Toybina conducts creative meetings with "every single department" of the show to discuss how to perfect the costumes' looks on camera.[62] Contestants are in costume for no more than 30 minutes at once.[56] During this time, they may wear cooling vests to limit heat exposure and hoods to absorb sweat.[72][73] Hidden screens inside each mask help them breathe and sing clearly.[61] For those who wear a mask detached from their costume's body, a face stocking, paint, or makeup is used to disguise their skin color.[4][56] Costumes are sanitized between tapings and repaired if needed as no backups exist.[69][71]

Toybina left her role following the sixth season, with Tim Chappel, who served as the costume designer for the Australian version of the show, taking her spot beginning in the seventh season.[74]

Set

 The stage as it appeared in the third season

According to its designer James Pearse Connelly, the set is based on the Thai version of the show and is inspired by the stage designs of electronic dance music festivals. The front is X-shaped and features an LED interior (allowing for video to be played) enclosed with smoked, tinted glass, while the back is made of shiny black laminate and contains space for trap doors and special effects underneath. The performance floor is flat to prevent tripping hazards and is bordered upstage by two 25-foot-tall (7.6 m) polygon faces with wide mouths as entrances and exits. A curved LED screen spans the space between the faces and a large logo of the show is hung above it.[75]

The stage is surrounded by seats for about 300 audience members[7] and the panelists are seated behind them on a raised platform at a mask-shaped desk.[75] The panelists' placement away from the stage allows them to move around during performances, helping the director tell a story.[56] Rather than sitting and speaking into a microphone attached to the desk which would limit their mobility, the panelists wear miniature headsets made by Shure.[76] Many on-stage set pieces were replaced with virtual reality elements and the panelists' desk was lengthened due to social distancing requirements during filming in the COVID-19 pandemic.[7] Backstage, a Batcave-inspired area contains costumes displayed like mannequins in a museum.[75]

Song selection and rehearsals

Pick Ibarra said selecting which songs they sing is a collaborative process; both the performers and producers submit "ideas [which] merge as [the songs] go through the clearance process".[43] While music publishers were reluctant to grant licenses for use in the first season as they were not told who would be performing their songs, this process became easier by the second.[77] Producers gravitate towards songs "that help tell the overall story" of one's costume[49] and ask those who are famous singers to select songs of a genre they are not known for so viewers will be surprised when they are revealed.[42] Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, "Ice Cream" in the second season, stated he "definitely got to pick the songs", but producers wanted them to be mainstream so viewers would connect to them.[78] Other contestants remarked they sometimes disagreed with producers' song choices.[79][80] Multiple songs are chosen and practiced at the same time; some will not be performed if a contestant is eliminated.[81]

Before the competition, vocal coaches and choreographers work with the celebrities for multiple days to determine their strengths and help improve their technique.[48][78] Tori Spelling, "Unicorn" in the first season, said contestants are given three weeks to practice before their first performance, although only a couple of rehearsals are conducted before then, and the amount of practice time becomes shorter as the season progresses.[82] According to director Alex Rudzinski, contestants generally practice in the week leading up to their performances. Their first rehearsals on stage occur for about half an hour the day before a taping, and a 10–15 minute "camera dress rehearsal sequence" is conducted several hours before filming.[49] Celebrities may train on their own time to better compete and do cardio exercises to prepare for performances.[83][84]

Filming

Clue packages

Each celebrity attends one or two voice-over sessions to record audio for their respective clue packages. Due to the length and varying filming locations of the video component, stand-ins are used to give them additional performance practice time.[35] In describing their creation, Wade said "you have to plan stuff and at least drive people down avenues". They may reveal a contestant is an athlete, but not the sport they compete in.[85] McCartney said contestants are interviewed every week of the competition and have their answers fact-checked by producers.[86] Producers listen to podcasts and read contestants' books; if a fact is on Wikipedia, they try to avoid mentioning it.[87] No physical filming occurred in the fourth season due to the COVID-19 pandemic; producers worked with Fox-owned Bento Box Entertainment to create animated videos.[7]

Performances

 Television City, the filming location of the first three seasons

Filming of the first three seasons took place at Television City in Los Angeles, after which production moved to Red Studios Hollywood.[7] With three episodes often filmed per week, the show has a much shorter filming schedule than others.[52][88] Dates are selected to accommodate celebrities' other activities.[46] Choosing to tape the series rather than broadcast it live was a difficult decision, Pick Ibarra said, but a necessary one because the time commitment would have prevented celebrities from participating.[4] Following the third season, Rudzinski said while an entire season would unlikely be aired live as "being able to edit helps us tell [a] story", a live broadcast remains possible.[49] Before performances occur, Rudzinski receives detailed musical breakdowns of the songs contestants will sing. Based on their beat and structure, he creates a storyboard for each performance.[56] Brad Duns has also acted as director.[89]

Except for the fourth and fifth seasons, during which the audience was virtual, a taping begins with them seated next to the stage and a warm-up comedian telling jokes to loosen them up. They are encouraged to act excited by clapping, cheering, and chanting the names of costumes while the production crew records their reactions for later use. Shortly thereafter, the panelists arrive, and the host introduces the first contestant. The clue package plays on the large screen in the studio, and the celebrity enters and performs with at least one background singer accompanying them offstage.[22][35][90] They wear in-ear monitors[49] and may use a headset inside of their mask to sing instead of a handheld microphone, opting to use one only as a prop on stage.[91] A teleprompter displays song lyrics as an aid.[54] According to Plestis, the contestants have one take to sing live.[4][46] Rob Gronkowski, "White Tiger" in the third season, said this was true; after missing lyrics during a performance, he never received an offer from producers to re-record them afterwards.[92] The contestants' vocals are intended to sound like the songs' original artists; if they used Auto-Tune processing, then such effects are applied in post-production.[93]

After a celebrity sings, their performance is conducted again with background singers only, allowing producers additional audience reactions to film.[90] During this time, they are allowed to cool down in one of the air-conditioned rooms backstage.[94] After all performances and guesses conclude, the panelists and audience vote for their favorite singer. Except during the fourth and fifth seasons, the producers film the studio audience acting out how they would react to one's elimination, with less than two dozen "extremely well-vetted" people (either friends and family of the celebrity or the show's production crew) remaining on set during the actual reveal.[22][20][52] The celebrity is allowed to have their hair and makeup fixed backstage before they are unmasked on camera.[4][95] As they reveal themselves, the panelists and audience chant "take! it! off!" and "Who Are You" by the Who—which is also the show's opening theme song—plays in the background.[96][97] Afterward, panelists are discouraged from researching possible answers to the clues presented to them for contestants remaining in the competition between episode tapings.[98]

Series overview

Main article: List of The Masked Singer (American TV series) episodes

Series overview

Season

Contestants

Episodes

Originally aired

Winner

Runner(s)-up

Third place

Fourth place

Ref.

First aired

Last aired

1

12

10

January 2, 2019

February 27, 2019

T-Pain as "Monster"

Donny Osmond as "Peacock"

Gladys Knight as "Bee"

—[a]

[99][100][101]

2

16

13

September 25, 2019

December 18, 2019

Wayne Brady as "Fox"

Chris Daughtry as "Rottweiler"

Adrienne Bailon-Houghton as "Flamingo"

—[a]

[99][100][102]

3

18

17

February 2, 2020

May 20, 2020

Kandi Burruss as "Night Angel"

Jesse McCartney as "Turtle"

Bow Wow as "Frog"

—[a]

[99][100][103]

4

16

12

September 23, 2020

December 16, 2020

LeAnn Rimes as "Sun"

Aloe Blacc as "Mushroom"

Nick Carter as "Crocodile"

—[a]

[99][100][104]

5

14

11

March 10, 2021

May 26, 2021

Nick Lachey as "Piglet"

JoJo as "Black Swan"

Wiz Khalifa as "Chameleon"

—[a]

[99][100][105]

6

16

13

September 22, 2021

December 15, 2021

Jewel as "Queen of Hearts"

Todrick Hall as "Bull"

—[b]

—[a]

[99][100][106]

7[c]

15

11

March 9, 2022

May 18, 2022

Teyana Taylor as "Firefly"

Hayley Orrantia as "Ringmaster"

Cheyenne Jackson as "Prince"

—[a]

[99][100][107]

8

22

12

September 21, 2022

November 30, 2022

Amber Riley as "Harp"

Wilson Phillips as "Lambs"

—[b]

—[a]

[99][100][108]

9

21

14

February 15, 2023

May 17, 2023

Bishop Briggs as "Medusa"

David Archuleta as "Macaw"

—[b]

—[a]

[99][100][109]

10

16

11

September 27, 2023

December 20, 2023

Ne-Yo as "Cow"

John Schneider as "Donut"

Janel Parrish as "Gazelle"

Macy Gray as "Sea Queen"

[99][100][110]

Specials

12

September 15, 2019

December 12, 2023

[99][100]

 

Due to its format, this season did not feature four finalists.

 

Due to its format, only two finalists were featured during the sixth, eighth, and ninth seasons.

 

Also known as The Masked Singer: The Good, The Bad, and The Cuddly.

Broadcast history and release

The Masked Singer debuted on January 2, 2019, as a mid-season replacement to Star.[111] A month before the season finale on February 27, 2019,[99] Fox renewed the show for a second season.[112] During its upfronts for the 2019–2020 United States television season in May 2019, the network renewed the series for a third season to launch as the lead-out of Super Bowl LIV.[29] The second season premiered on September 25, 2019, and was preceded by a "Super Sneak Peek" episode which aired two Sundays prior. Before concluding on December 18, 2019, it was pre-empted for two weeks by the broadcast of the 2019 World Series.[99][113] On February 2, 2020, the third season premiered following Super Bowl LIV. After a "Road to the Finals" episode aired the previous day, it culminated on May 20, 2020.[99][114] Two weeks prior, the series was renewed for a fourth season to air during the 2020–2021 television season.[115][116] Following a preview episode on September 13, it premiered on September 23, 2020.[117] One week of the season was pre-empted due to the 2020 World Series.[118] Two weeks before the finale on December 16, 2020, the series was renewed for a fifth season,[119] which premiered on March 10, 2021.[32] On May 17, 2021, Fox renewed the series for a sixth season a week before the fifth season's finale on May 26.[120] The sixth season began airing starting with a two-night premiere on September 22 and 23, 2021.[121] A seventh season premiered on March 9, 2022.[122] On May 15, 2023, it was announced that the series was renewed for a tenth season.[123]

The program is aired by Fox in the United States and has been simulcasted by CTV in Canada since the second season.[124][125] Fox Entertainment distributes the series in those countries while Propagate Content does so elsewhere.[126][127] Outside of North America, it has aired on ITV in the United Kingdom,[128] Network 10 in Australia,[129] Three in New Zealand,[130] M-Net in South Africa,[131] and Channel 5 in Singapore, among others.[132] Aside from double-length episodes, most run for about 43 minutes.[133] They are available for streaming in the United States on Hulu, Fox's website, and the Fox Now mobile app through video on demand.[134][135] The Masked Singer is also available on the American ad-supported service Tubi,[134][135] where it became the most-watched series less than two months after its April 2020 debut and is used to attract new viewers to the platform.[136][137] Episodes are available internationally on localized streaming services.[138][139]

Reception

Television viewership and ratings

Viewership and ratings per season of The Masked Singer. TV season ranks/averages include seven-day DVR playback.

Season

Timeslot (ET)

Episodes

First aired

Last aired

TV season

Viewership

rank

Avg. viewers

(millions)

18–49

rank

Avg. 18–49

rating

Date

Viewers

(millions)

Date

Viewers

(millions)

1

Wednesday 9:00 p.m.

10

January 2, 2019

9.37[140]

February 27, 2019

11.48[141]

2018–2019

13

11.57

3

3.8[142]

2

Wednesday 8:00 p.m.

13

September 25, 2019

8.03[143]

December 18, 2019

8.36[144]

2019–2020

12

10.73

3

3.2[145]

3

17

February 2, 2020

23.70[146]

May 20, 2020

9.01[147]

4

12

September 23, 2020

5.92[148]

December 16, 2020

7.41[149]

2020–2021

23

7.56

3

2.0[150]

5

11

March 10, 2021

5.66[151]

May 26, 2021

5.51[152]

6

13

September 22, 2021

4.74[153]

December 15, 2021

5.08[154]

2021–2022

40

5.85

8

1.2[155]

7

11

March 9, 2022

4.15[156]

May 18, 2022

4.19[157]

8

12

September 21, 2022

3.70[158]

November 30, 2022

4.18[159]

2022–2023

44

5.11

10

0.9[160]

9

14

February 15, 2023

3.71[161]

May 17, 2023

3.73[162]

10

11

September 27, 2023

3.22[163]

December 20, 2023

3.76[164]

2023–2024

TBD

TBD

TBD

TBD

In both 2019 and 2020, the show was named the "Hottest Reality/Competition Series" in the United States by Adweek.[165][166] Excluding post-NFL game debuts, the program's premiere was the highest-rated for an unscripted television series in the country since The X Factor in 2011.[167] Ratings grew toward the end of the first season,[98] and The Masked Singer concluded the 2018–2019 American television season as the highest-rated new series in the key demographic of adults 18–49[142] and the first unscripted series to rank number one in the genre in its first season since Joe Millionaire in 2003.[168] TV Guide named it the television season's "most underestimated show".[169] During the following television season, the series was one of two non-NFL programs to charge over $200,000 per 30 seconds of advertising.[170] Deadline Hollywood cited the second season as a major reason Fox—for the first time in the network's history—ranked number one in fall entertainment programming.[171]

The premiere of the third season following Super Bowl LIV became the series' most-watched episode.[146] Throughout the season's latter half which aired amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, episodes experienced a rise in viewership compared to those broadcast before the outbreak.[88][172] Although the 18–49 rating was lower than the first's, the show remained the top non-sports program in the demographic.[173] During the 2020–2021 United States television season, ad prices for the show increased 12 percent to about $226,000 per 30 seconds.[174] While the highest-rated entertainment broadcast since the third season's finale,[165] the first episode of the fourth season tied for the series' lowest at the time.[175] A broadcast following a Thanksgiving NFL game was the most-watched and highest-rated of the series excluding the post-Super Bowl episode since the first season's finale.[176][177] With the fourth and fifth season's ratings, The Masked Singer remained the highest-rated entertainment program among adults 18–49 for the third consecutive television season.[142][178] By the seventh season, the show's viewership declined to less than half of the first season's audience, though it is still considered above-average given similar trends for other programs.[179]

Simulcasts of the show are popular in Canada; all of the premieres and finales have ranked within the top 10 most-watched programs in the weeks they aired according to audience measurement company Numeris.[180][181] The post-Super Bowl LIV premiere of the third season was viewed by 2.35 million, the most for a Super Bowl lead-out in the country since 2012.[181][182] During the 2019–2020 Canadian television season, it was the eighth most-watched series overall.[183] In Australia, The Masked Singer debuted on September 30, 2020, to ratings significantly smaller than others in its timeslot. With 285,000 viewers, The Music attributed its low viewership to a culture barrier and that reveals are well-publicized by the time the series airs.[184] After viewership fell to 125,000 a month later, the program was moved to a less favorable timeslot.[185]

Critical response

The show received a mixed reception from television critics; their critiques were classified as "befuddled" by The Hollywood Reporter.[186] Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 52 percent approval rating for the first season, with an average rating of 4 out of 10, based on 25 reviews. Its critical consensus states: "Defying all tropes of the reality competition genre, The Masked Singer manages to be both magnetically apocalyptic and inexplicably boring."[187] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 36 out of 100 based on 10 critics reviewing the first season, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[188]

Concept and appeal

Critics contrasted the series to other reality television programs in the United States. Entertainment Weekly's Joseph Longo considered it the most captivating competition series since The Voice premiered in 2011,[95] and Stuart Heritage of The Guardian called it one of the best singing competition shows in a decade.[189] Writing for NBC News' Think, Ani Bundel thought the series has an advantage over Dancing with the Stars and The Voice because voting bias is less likely when competitors are unknown.[190] Kelly Lawler of USA Today agreed, praising the avoidance of overproduced backstories, harsh criticisms, and results episodes.[191] The Daily Beast's Laura Bradley felt it was better than Dancing with the Stars because costumes can be used to generate interest instead of casting those "who seek to overplay their 15 minutes of fame".[192] As she considered its format more complex than Top Chef or Dancing with the Stars, Erin Schwartz of The Nation considered The Masked Singer's success surprising.[193]

The show received comparisons to the original version of the franchise. Despite its strong viewership indicating the "changes [between it and the South Korean version] seem to have worked",[194] some felt the competition length is too slow in comparison, and makes reveals occur long after established consensuses about who the celebrities are, have formed, nullifying the excitement surrounding them.[26][52][195] While contestants on the South Korean series sing the same songs during a duet round, producers' decision not to do so in the American version was also thought of as an "ill-advised" decision by critics as they felt it inhibits fair comparisons.[26][195][196] Conversely, for V's Hannah Hightman, the series "retains the bizarreness of King of Mask Singer but adds a distinctly American style, creating an infectiously fun reality TV classic".[197] According to Drew Millard of The Outline, the show is better than previous American adaptations of Asian television series because it is "even crazier than the original".[198]

Critics regarded the program as having a positive nature. John Doyle of The Globe and Mail cited it as a cultural change in the United States away from the competitive and often exploitative essence of reality shows like American Idol.[199] Opining in The Washington Post, Sonia Rao thought the series' ethos is its support of eccentricity.[200] Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture named it the best example of escapism on television,[201] and Variety's Daniel D'Addario called it a return to form for the medium as he thought it possesses the now-rare ability to uplift and unite people.[202] Lawler agreed, remarking it was perhaps "the only reality TV show that doesn't manufacture its fun".[191] Schwartz considered it "the rare show on television that allows viewers to turn off their brains, sit back, and enjoy" and felt panelists compliment competitors despite the quality of their performances.[193] The way contestants are eliminated has garnered praise for being dignified,[203][204] though those of "vocal legend[s]" such as Patti LaBelle, Dionne Warwick, and Chaka Khan have been criticized for being premature.[205][206][207]

Performance and production

The costume designs have received praise for being inventive,[208] intricate,[26] and impressive.[96][209] Opinions of the performances have differed; Variety's Caroline Framke described them as mediocre,[209] The New Yorker's Emily Nussbaum thought the choreography was elaborate,[210] and Entertainment Weekly's Kristen Baldwin said some celebrities sound professional while others are more karaoke-like.[211] The way the show is edited has attracted criticism; guesses have been called repetitive,[201] episodes excessive in length,[189] and unmaskings slow.[212] Writing for Decider, Joel Keller found the program's pacing overwhelming.[213] To fix the "manufactured" feeling, Hanh Nguyen of IndieWire felt a live broadcast would add excitement,[214] as did those from Gold Derby and E! Online.[215][216] Viewers on the West Coast discover which celebrity is unmasked later than those on the East Coast because the show is not aired live across all time zones.[97]

Cast and commentary

Reviewers referred to the status of celebrities competing. Rob Harvilla of The Ringer wrote that they are either stars of decades past or only have thin connections to actual celebrities[217] and Ali stated the show's "idea of celebrity is fairly elastic".[97] According to Hannah Hightman, the series is "a haven for B-list celebs".[197] Alison de Souza of The Straits Times said the series has never featured an A-lister.[132] With both traditional Hollywood celebrities and reality show stars participating, some indicated the hierarchies of fame are no longer as defined as they once were.[208][218] Conversely, Adam White of The Daily Telegraph attributed the show's success in part to the "relative starriness of its participants"[219] and BBC News' Neil Smith considered it a "particularly starry" version of the franchise.[220] In her book Transnational Korean Television, the scholar Hyejung Ju argued almost all of the contestants are well-known.[25] In contrast to the New Zealand edition, Jenni Mortimer of The New Zealand Herald said "the celebrity pull on the US version is huge".[221] The series has received criticism for having politicians such as Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani as contestants, with the latter causing panelist Ken Jeong to walk out.[51][222]

 

 

 

L–R: Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Nicole Scherzinger, Robin Thicke, Nick Cannon

Critics felt the panelists undermined the program with pointless statements and awkward interactions.[210][212][223] Describing McCarthy Wahlberg as inexperienced, Scherzinger as dull, Jeong as over-the-top, and Thicke as too serious, Kelly Lawler named them the worst panel in reality television history.[191][224] Rachel Desantis of the New York Daily News thought all except Jeong were unfunny;[203] Miles Surrey of The Ringer disagreed, stating Jeong was annoying.[225] Quartz's Adam Epstein predicted the panelists could be the show's downfall.[226] Their guesses have been called stupid,[227] absurd,[218] worthless,[209] and "the worst part of the [show]"[228] by those who viewed them as implausible.[217] In dissenting, The Daily Beast's Jordan Julian felt they made the panelists "surprisingly entertaining"[229] and D'Addario compared the panelists favorably to the original American Idol judges who he perceived as non-experts in their fields.[202]

Cannon's role on the series has divided critics. The Washington Post's Emily Yahr felt he "was made for" the show due to his years of experience in the same role "seeing oddities" on America's Got Talent,[230] and Keller thought he "learned his lesson" from that program by being less distracting.[213] Conversely, Doyle called Cannon "as inarticulate as a three-year-old"[199] and Longo remarked he was overshadowed by the presence and commentary of McCarthy Wahlberg.[95] McCarthy Wahlberg's role on the show was criticized by Seitz and Sam Barsanti of The A.V. Club due to her views on vaccines.[201][227]

Cultural impact

The series' success is attributed to subsequent local adaptations of the Masked Singer franchise.[22][231] It is part of the Korean wave and follows fellow late 2010s American television shows Better Late Than Never and The Good Doctor, which are also based on South Korean programs.[232] International interest in adapting other costume-centered formats such as Wild Things and Sexy Beasts has been credited to the series' success,[19] as has the debut of other guessing game shows on Fox.[233][234] An American version of the South Korean game show I Can See Your Voice, which features contestants guessing whether singers are good or bad without hearing them sing for a chance to win money, began airing on the network in 2020. Jeong hosts along with a panel and a "musical superstar" who aid the contestant. It followed episodes of The Masked Singer's fourth season, creating a two-hour programming block based on South Korean formats and featuring Jeong.[233][235] Game of Talents, another international guessing game adaptation, is hosted by season two winner Wayne Brady and aired after episodes of The Masked Singer's fifth season.[234] In April 2021, an unofficial online fundraiser version of the show featuring Broadway performers titled Broadway's Masked Singer was held in support of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.[236]

The program has played a major role in Fox's success as an independent network and in-house production company Fox Alternative Entertainment.[237][238] As a result, Wade described an increased openness to new ideas when shows are pitched.[168] He also predicted more direct relationships between Asian production companies and American television networks would form.[239] Masked Singer was MBC's first format sold to the United States market.[28] Plestis subsequently signed a deal with Tokyo Broadcasting System to develop new television formats and launched an American edition of the South Korean game show My Little Television for TBS.[240][241] Due in part to her success with The Masked Singer, British production company Studio Lambert signed a similar deal with Pick Ibarra.[24]

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations

Award

Year[a]

Category

Nominee(s)

Result

Ref.

Art Directors Guild Awards

2021

Variety, Reality or Competition Series

James Pearse Connelly[b]

Nominated

[242]

Costume Designers Guild Awards

2020

Excellence in Variety, Reality-Competition, Live Television

Marina Toybina[c]

Won

[243]

2021

Marina Toybina[d]

Nominated

[244]

2022

Marina Toybina, Gabrielle Letamendi[e]

Nominated

[245]

Critics' Choice Real TV Awards

2019

Best Competition Series: Talent/Variety

The Masked Singer

Won

[246]

2021

The Masked Singer

Won

[247]

2023

The Masked Singer

Nominated

[248]

Gracie Awards

2020

Showrunner – Unscripted

Izzie Pick Ibarra

Won

[249]

Guild of Music Supervisors Awards

2021

Best Music Supervision – Reality Television

Meryl Ginsberg[f]

Won

[250]

Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards

2021

Best Broadcast Network Reality Series, Competition Series, or Game Show

The Masked Singer

Won

[251]

2022

Best Broadcast Network Reality Show or Competition Series

The Masked Singer

Nominated

[252]

Kids' Choice Awards

2020

Favorite Reality Show

The Masked Singer

Nominated

[253]

Favorite TV Host

Nick Cannon

Nominated

2021

Favorite Reality Show

The Masked Singer

Nominated

[254]

2022

The Masked Singer

Nominated

[255]

2023

The Masked Singer

Nominated

[256]

MTV Movie & TV Awards

2019

Best Host

Nick Cannon

Nominated

[257]

2021

Best Competition Series

The Masked Singer

Nominated

[258]

2022

The Masked Singer

Nominated

[259]

2023

Best Host

Nick Cannon

Nominated

[260]

People's Choice Awards

2019

The Competition Show of 2019

The Masked Singer

Nominated

[261]

The Competition Contestant of 2019

T-Pain[g]

Nominated

2020

The Show of 2020

The Masked Singer

Nominated

[262]

The Competition Show of 2020

The Masked Singer

Nominated

The Competition Contestant of 2020

Kandi Burruss[h]

Nominated

Rob Gronkowski[i]

Nominated

2021

The Competition Show of 2021

The Masked Singer

Nominated

[263]

The Competition Contestant of 2021

JoJo[j]

Nominated

Wiz Khalifa[k]

Nominated

2022

The Competition Show of 2022

The Masked Singer

Nominated

[264]

The Competition Contestant of 2022

Teyana Taylor[l]

Nominated

Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards

2019

Outstanding Costumes for a Variety, Nonfiction, or Reality Programming

Marina Toybina, Grainne O'Sullivan[m]

Nominated

[265]

2020

Marina Toybina, Grainne O'Sullivan, Gabrielle Letamendi, Candice Rainwater[n]

Won

[58]

2021

Marina Toybina, Grainne O'Sullivan, Gabrielle Letamendi, Lucia Maldonado[o]

Won

[266]

Outstanding Production Design for a Variety, Reality or Competition Series

James Pearse Connelly, Ryan Suchor, Lisa Nelson

Nominated

[267]

Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Series

Simon Miles, Cory Fournier, Maurice Dupleasis[q]

Nominated

2022

Simon Miles, Cory Fournier[r]

Nominated

[268]

Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Series

Christine Salomon, Nat Havholm, Mark Koonce, Brett Crutcher, Adam Margolis, Rob Palmer, Ron Lehman, Bert Atkinson, Bettina Levesque, Jeff Wheat, Kary D'Alessandro, Daryl Studebaker, John Goforth, Cary Symmons, Sean Flannery, Darin Gallacher, Chris Hill[s]

Nominated

2023

Outstanding Technical Direction and Camerawork for a Series

Christine Salomon, Cary Symmons, Bert Atkinson, Brett Crutcher, Kary D'Allesandro, Jimmy Garcia, John Goforth, Sean Flannery, Bettina Levesque, Adam Margolis, Mark Koonce, Daryl Studebaker, James Sullivan, Rob Palmer[t]

Pending

[269]

Primetime Emmy Awards

2020

Outstanding Competition Program

The Masked Singer

Nominated

[58]

Producers Guild of America Awards

2020

Outstanding Producer of Game & Competition Television

Craig Plestis, Izzie Pick Ibarra, Nikki Varhely-Gillingham, Rosie Seitchik, Stacey Thomas-Muir, Nick Cannon, Ashley Sylvester, Lindsay Tuggle, Pete Cooksley, Chelsea Candelaria, Anne Chanthavong, Zoë Ritchken, Deena Katz, Erin Brady, Jeff Kmiotek, Lexi Shoemaker[u]

Nominated

[270]

2021

Craig Plestis, Izzie Pick Ibarra, Rosie Seitchik, Nick Cannon, James Breen, Deena Katz, Lindsay Tuggle, Chris Wagner, Patrizia DiMaria, Brian Updyke, Jeff Kmiotek, Lauren Taylor Harding, Nick Campagna, Erin Brady, Tiana Gandelman, Kristin Campbell-Taylor, Lindsay John, Dom Worden, Peter Hebri, Zoë Ritchken, Lexi Shoemaker, Mike Riccio, Emily Smith, Chelsea Candelaria, Joseph Warwick[v]

Nominated

[271]

Shorty Awards

2019

Best in Entertainment Sites & Apps

The Masked Singer Social Hub

Nominated

[272]

Teen Choice Awards

2019

Choice Reality TV Show

The Masked Singer

Nominated

[273]

Spin-offs

The Masked Singer: After the Mask

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television, Fox postponed the premieres of some scripted series to late 2020 and opted to create The Masked Singer: After the Mask as one of two shows that could be produced remotely to fill the programming gap.[274] Cannon hosted the aftershow; it aired on Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. (ET) for four weeks following episodes of the third season during which he discusses the outcome of the preceding Masked Singer episode from a "virtual stage" with guests appearing via videotelephony.[275][276] A performance from the eliminated celebrity is featured at the end of each episode, which are directed by Tom Sullivan and executive produced by Breen, Plestis, and Cannon.[277] CTV broadcast the series in Canada.[278]

The series premiere received a 1.4 rating in the adults 18–49 demographic and about 5.5 million viewers, a "pretty significant improvement" over the average ratings of the previous lead-out, Lego Masters.[279] Subsequent episodes continued to retain about half of The Masked Singer's viewers, which is considered above average for an aftershow.[88] Including DVR, the program concluded the 2019–2020 United States television season with an average viewership of 5.29 million (ranking sixty-eighth among all series broadcast), and an average 18–49 rating of 1.4 (ranking twenty-seventh).[145] According to Variety, it received higher ratings "than shows that probably cost ten times to produce".[280]

The Masked Dancer

Main article: The Masked Dancer (American TV series)

Following the premiere of The Masked Singer in January 2019, Ellen DeGeneres began conducting a parody, "The Masked Dancer", as a recurring segment on her daytime talk show. On January 7, 2020, Fox Alternative Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television announced plans to broadcast The Masked Dancer as a television series.[281][282] Craig Robinson hosts the show, and Jeong, Brian Austin Green, Paula Abdul, and Ashley Tisdale act as panelists. Like The Masked Singer's format, celebrity contestants wear head-to-toe costumes and face masks concealing their identities, but perform different dance styles.[283][284] It premiered on Fox on December 27, 2020.[285]

Other media

Costume displays

 Costumes were displayed in an exhibit at the Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles.

After being worn during a season, the costumes are placed in storage and occasionally displayed.[94] In mid-2019, some from the first season were accompanied by video and Toybina's original sketches in an exhibit, "Fashion & Fantasy: The Art of The Masked Singer", at the Los Angeles Paley Center for Media.[286] Selections were also present at the annual "Art of Television Costume Design" exhibit at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Museum in Los Angeles from August to October 2019.[287][288] On February 1, 2020, two costumes were displayed at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County as part of a meet-and-greet promotion.[289] For a week in May 2021, costumes from the fifth season were shown in a West Hollywood, California storefront as part of a For Your Consideration campaign for the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards.[290]

Merchandise

Hoodies, coffee mugs, phone cases, and other merchandise using the show's branding are purchasable on the series' online store.[291] "Family fun packs" consisting of coloring pages, a word search, and a do it yourself mask were once downloadable on its website,[292] as were official Giphy stickers, clue notebooks, Bingo cards, and phone wallpapers.[293] Images of the series were made available to users on Microsoft Teams and Zoom as custom backgrounds.[294][295] In October 2020, the show launched an official weekly podcast hosted by Bow Wow. In addition to a post-elimination celebrity interview, it features guests and extra clues.[296][297] During the fifth season, viewers could use the Fox Bet Super 6 app to answer questions about each episode and be entered into weekly draws to win money, including a grand prize of $100,000.[6] In October 2021, Fox launched an online community known as the "MaskVerse" in which users can trade mask NFTs and communicate on a Discord server.[298]

The Masked Singer National Tour

In February 2020, it was announced that the program would be getting a live tour with shows in over forty American cities featuring two celebrity hosts and a local mystery celebrity who would be unmasked at the end of each.[299] Originally scheduled for mid-2020, the tour was later postponed to the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually delayed indefinitely.[300][301] In June 2021, Plestis said plans were being materialized and that he hoped it would occur in 2022.[302]

On November 1, 2021, the tour was reannounced for 2022, and later began on May 28.[303] Natasha Bedingfield, who was costumed as "Pepper" in season six, serves as host of the tour.[304] Shows in the tour include previous Masked Singer costumes such as Queen of Hearts, Alien, and Thingamabob. Each show also includes a mystery celebrity, who performs in a tour-specific costume, "Boom Boom Box".[305]

Notes

 

Indicates the year of ceremony

 

For "The Season Premiere – The Masks Return"

 

For "Season Finale: And The Winner Takes It All and Takes It Off"

 

For "The Semi Finals – The Super Six"

 

For "2 Night Season Premiere, Part 2: Back to School"

 

For season three

 

Competed as "Monster" in the first season

 

Competed as "Night Angel" in the third season

 

Competed as "White Tiger" in the third season

 

Competed as "Black Swan" in the fifth season

 

Competed as "Chameleon" in the fifth season

 

Competed as "Firefly" in the seventh season

 

For "Season Finale: The Final Mask is Lifted"

 

For "The Season Kick off Mask Off: Group A"

 

For "Super 8 – The Plot Chickens! Part 2"

 

For "The Season Premiere – The Masks Return"

 

For "The Spicy 6 – The Competition Heats Up!"

 

For "Group A Semi-Final"

 

For "Masks Back — The Good, The Bad & The Cuddly — Round 1"

 

For "New York Night"

 

For season one

 

For seasons three and four


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