Another of Australia's endemic marsupials - the wombat

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I’ve had a few questions about wombats so I thought I’d do a discussion about them. Their taxonomical name is Vombatus ursinus. They are the world’s largest burrowing mammal and are only found in Australia and a few offshore islands. They are marsupials and have a backward-facing pouch. This means the pouch (and any baby) doesn't get full of dirt when Mum is digging. The babies are called ‘joeys’ just like baby kangaroos. They range from 29 to 40 inches long (73 to 101cms) and about 14 inches (35cms) high. They have a cleft upper lip which allows them to graze close to the ground. They are built like mini-tanks and have strong claws adapted for digging. The rounded back slopes down. The rump is protected by a cartilaginous plate. When threatened by dogs or dingoes, the wombat digs in and presents this hard plate to its attacker which is unable to get a grip. Wombats don’t sweat and often sleep in their burrows flat on their backs with their legs in the air. Another interesting fact is that they excrete little blocks of manure which are square in shape. A major cause of death is sarcoptic mange which is spread by feral cats and foxes. Although they look very lovable, adult pet wombats are extremely stubborn, very strong and not quite as endearing as the young ones, which are not above sleeping with their owners and hogging most of the pillow. The photo is from Wikimedia Commons: GregTheBusker (originally posted to Flickr as Common Wombat) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]