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Southern hairy-nosed wombat - LASIORHINUS LATIFRONS Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Wombat": The word "wombat" is a native Australian word.
Location: Coastal plains of southern Australia.
Habitat: Terrestrial. Arid scrub, grassland, or open woodland.
Description: The wombat is a square, stocky marsupial with short legs, a large head, and fairly long pointed ears. It has only a rudimentary tail. Its fur is soft and silky, grizzled gray and black on the back and lighter on the belly. The wombat can reach 40" in length and weigh 60 lbs.
Behavior: Its strong stout limbs and digging claws make the wombat an excellent burrower. Its long, complex tunnel system provides shelter from daytime heat. In cooler weather the wombat likes to sunbathe. Mostly active at twilight and night, the wombat eats only a few selected species ot plants. Unlike any other marsupials, wombats have a single pair of always-growing upper and lower incisors, like the rodents. Adapted to a desert climate, the hairy-nosed species of wombat does not sweat or drink water, and it dehydrates its feces to conserve moisture. It may also recycle urea.
Reproduction: This species of wombat is usually solitary except during the breeding season, which is apparently in the summer. A single baby occupies the pouch, which, unlike the kangaroo's pouch, opens toward the rear.
Note:The future of this particular species is in doubt. Further human encroachment upon its already restricted native habitat may diminish its population beyond recovery. Two related species have been reduced to very small numbers and isolated in Queensland. The common forest wombat is relatively abundant.
Go to the Marsupials Page to get a general discussion of these animals.
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