Wombat is the world’s largest burrowing marsupial. This fur-covered
herbivorous mammal looks like a small bear and its looks can be compared
to a groundhog, a badger, and even a marmot. In the past centuries, when
Australia was first being settled by the Europeans, these creatures were
often called a badger because of its resemblance to the European badger.
Physical features of Wombats
Wombats are extremely strong and muscular. Their skeleton is sturdily
constructed and quite compact. They are stocky animals with a
barrel-shaped thick and heavy body. They have a short, muscular neck,
and a large, broad, flattened head with small beady eyes and a hard and
bony back. It somewhat represent a large rodent. This bony back is a
useful defense against intruders in the burrow, as the wombat uses its
back to crush them against the burrow wall. The wombat has a small,
vestigial tail, which is almost entirely concealed by its fur.
Wombats are quadrupeds. All four limbs are powerful and short but the
forelegs are the strongest. They also have rodent like front teeth and
claws, which they use to dig deep burrows. One distinguishing adaptation
of wombats is their backwards pouch. The advantage of a backwards-facing
pouch is that while digging, the wombat does not gather dirt in its
pouch over its young.
The hind legs are longer than the front - this can best noticed while
examining a wombat's skeleton. Both the front paws and the rear feet are
wide and each has five digits. All digits are prepared with broad claws
except the first toe, which is shorter than the others. The claws are
long, strong, and well designed for digging.
Common Wombat's front paws are quite dexterous and they can use them
like hands to grasp vegetation, rip off from the ground and feed it to
its mouth. A Hairy nosed wombat cannot make a fist with its hand,
however, and so cannot pick things up like the Common Wombat can.
Because of this difference, a Common Wombat can climb, while a Hairy
nosed Wombat cannot.
Habit and lifestyle of Wombats
Wombats are nocturnal in nature, which means they are usually active
at night feeding on grasses, roots and shrubs. They have a keen sense of
smell and excellent hearing. Wombats have the most developed brain of
any marsupial. It stays in a burrow in daytime, though sometimes it can
be seen basking in the sun at the burrow entrance. The male wombats are
solitary in nature but females are often seen to spend time with their
young.
Wombats have an extremely slow metabolism, taking around 14 days to
complete digestion, which helps them to survive in dry conditions.
Generally they move slowly, but when threatened they can reach a speed
of up to 40 km/h and maintain that speed for nearly 90 seconds.
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