Meet the bare-nosed wombat, the world's largest burrowing mammal
The first Europeans to encounter bare-nosed wombats likened them to bears—and the comparison stuck. The species’ scientific name, Vombatus ursinus, combines the Latin word for bear with one from the Aboriginal Dharug language. But this cuddly looking herbivore is actually a marsupial whose closest cousin is another Australian favorite, the koala.
Bare-nosed wombat
Scientific name: Vombatus ursinus
Range: Pockets of habitat in southeast Australia
Length: About 3 ft.
Weight: 50 lb. or more
Habitats: Temperate forests, open woodlands, grasslands, and scrublands
- Backside: Soft on the outside, with a short, hidden tail; hard as a rock underneath, owing to four fused backbones, or plates
- Feet: Short, broad forefeet with long, flat claws for digging
- Pouch: Backward-facing, so mom doesn’t kick dirt on her young, known as joeys
© Xavier Hoenner photography/Getty Images, inset; © Jonas Boernicke/Shutterstock.com
Cube master
Surprisingly for such a roly-poly critter, the wombat’s poop resembles a charcoal briquette. The flat sides mean the scat stays put, making for efficient territory-marking.
Uncommon ground
The bare-nosed wombat used to be called the common wombat, now a misnomer given the species’ fragmented populations. Two other wombat species are even less common: the southern hairy-nosed and the critically endangered northern hairy-nosed, which was restricted to a single population in a national park until reintroduced to a second site in 2009.
© BJORN CHRISTIAN TORRISSEN
Location, location, location
The wombat is a world-class digger, creating up to a dozen multiroomed underground homes. Each burrow usually has a single entrance, which the wombat can block with its hard-plated bum to defend against predators. Wombats sometimes share their lairs with other mammals, reptiles, and penguins.
© WWF
© WWF-US/SHAUN MARTIN
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