Wombat

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Wombats
Common Wombat in the snow
Common Wombat in the snow
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Suborder: Vombatiformes
Family: Vombatidae
Burnett, 1829
A Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat (Lasiorhinus latifrons).

A wombat is a marsupial, which forms the family Vombatidae. It lives in the Australian eucalyptus forests. There are two genera with three living wombat species, the Common Wombat and the Hairy-nosed Wombats.

It is a medium sized animal that makes a burrow by digging holes in the ground. Wombats are usually around a meter long when they are fully grown. It is a kind of animal known as a marsupial because it has a pouch on its belly that holds its young, although it faces back instead of forward like most marsupials. Having the pouch face backwards prevents dirt from building up in the pouch and hitting the offspring in the face when digging. When its young are born they spend some time growing in their mother's pouch before going into the world. Wombats are herbivores. They eat plants, roots, and grasses. They are nocturnal which means they sleep in the day and come out at night. Some wombats have thick brown fur and very small ears. They can weigh from 30 to 70 pounds.

[change] Taxonomy

  • Family Vombatidae: Wombats
    • Common Wombat (Vombatus ursinus)
    • Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat (Lasiorhinus latifrons)
    • Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat or Yaminon (Lasiorhinus krefftii)

[change] Other websites

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Look up Vombatidae in Wikispecies, a directory of species
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