Wombat

Common Name:
Wombat
Scientific Name:
Vombatus ursinus
Type:
Mammals
Diet:
Herbivore
Group Name:
Mob, colony, wisdom
Size:
28 to 47 inches
Weight:
32 to 80 pounds
IUCN Red List Status:
Least concern
Current Population Trend:
Stable

What is a wombat?

The common wombat—also called the bare-nosed wombat to distinguish it from the two other species of wombat, both of which have hairy-noses—is a large, stocky mammal found in open grasslands, mountains, and forests in Australia and nearby islands.

Wombats are marsupials, or animals whose babies are born early and continue to develop in a special pouch outside of the mother’s body. Unlike other marsupials such as kangaroos and koalas, the opening of a wombat’s pouch faces her rear rather than her head to prevent it filling with dirt when the mother is digging.

These solitary herbivores have surprisingly useful bottoms that help shield them from potential attackers. Wombats are particularly notable for their poop—they are the only animal known to have cube-shaped dung.

Appearance

Adult wombats can grow to around three feet long—similar to a medium-sized dog. They have stocky round bodies with grayish brown fur, short, powerful legs, and strong, sharp claws that make them excellent diggers. 

Unlike most other marsupials, a wombat’s incisors continue growing throughout its lifetime, like a rodent. They keep these sharp teeth in check by gnawing on tough vegetation.

Habitat and self-defense

Wombats use their strong claws to dig large burrows. They usually spend up to four days sleeping in one burrow before moving onto another, creating intricate tunnel-and-chamber complexes which are often used by other small mammals for shelter as well.

Although they look adorable, these animals are well equipped to protect themselves from predators. In their hind quarters, their sturdy backbone plates are surrounded by tough cartilage, fat, and fur—forming a durable shield.

When under threat, wombats dive into their burrows and use their rear ends to block the entrance and protect the rest of their bodies. They may even land a hefty kick on their attacker for good measure.

Crushed fox and dingo skulls have been found around wombat burrows, leading some researchers to theorize that these hardy marsupials may also use their armored buttocks to smash predators’ skulls against the roof of their burrow.

They learn this method of self-defense from a young age—practicing with their mothers and play-fighting with other young wombats.

Reproduction

Wombats’ hind quarters also play a key role in their mating ritual. Fertile females flirt by biting a male on the bottom and running away, with him following in hot pursuit. This catch-and-release courtship can become quite aggressive.

After a short gestation period of around 30 days, the mother gives birth to a tiny, undeveloped joey around the size of a jelly bean that crawls into the pouch on her belly. There, it attaches to a nipple and continues to develop for about six months. The pouch gives off a substance containing antimicrobial compounds that protects her baby from infection.

Even after a baby wombat has emerged from its mother’s pouch, it will frequently crawl back in to feed or to escape danger. Young wombats can look after themselves by around seven months, leave their mothers at around 15 months, and become sexually mature at two years old.

Cubic poop

These nocturnal herbivores spend eight hours each night grazing on grass, bark, and roots. To preserve as much water and nutrients as possible, their digestion process can take eight to 14 days, resulting in incredibly dry dung.

Wombats produce up to a hundred square droppings each day. Scientists have long wondered how—and why—those droppings are square when they come from a round rectum. In 2018, researchers revealed that it likely has to do with the animal’s incredibly long, irregular intestines.

(Learn more about why wombat poop is cube-shaped.)

Most other animals have fairly uniform intestines and so they create a round or sausage-shaped poop. When they digest food, the walls of their intestines contract and relax to push the matter along while the body absorbs nutrients. The pressure inside the intestine squeezes these droppings into shape.

Wombats, however, have two types of intestine wall: stiffer sections interspersed with stretchier grooves. These work together to form the dry feces into the wombats’ iconic cubic poop. While the reason for this cubic scat hasn’t been proven, scientists theorize it could be because the cubes are less likely to roll away when wombats mark their territory.

Threats to survival

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature categorizes common wombats as a species of least concern, while southern hairy-nosed wombats are near threatened, and northern hairy-nosed wombats are critically endangered

Although common wombat populations are stable, they are often hunted by farmers to prevent the damage that their burrows cause to agricultural fields. They’re also hunted for their fur and for sport. These wombats also face the loss of their habitats, and threats from dingo packs, feral dogs, droughts, wildfires, and vehicle collisions. Orphaned wombats can often be rehabilitated and successfully released back into the wild.

Editor's note: This story was originally published on April 11, 2010. It was last updated on February 8, 2023.

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