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The name "wombat" comes from the now nearly extinct Dharug language spoken by the aboriginal Dharug people, who originally inhabited the Sydney area. [3] It was first recorded in January 1798, when John Price and James Wilson, a white man who had adopted aboriginal ways, visited the area of what is now Bargo, New South Wales.
Diprotodon is a marsupial in the order Diprotodontia, [d] suborder Vombatiformes (wombats and koalas), and infraorder Vombatomorphia (wombats and allies). It is unclear how different groups of vombatiformes are related to each other because the most-completely known members—living or extinct—are exceptionally derived (highly specialised forms that are quite different from their last common ...
The northern hairy-nosed wombat's nose is very important in its survival because it has very poor eyesight, so it must detect its food in the dark through smell. Examination of the wombat's digestive tract shows that the elastic properties of the ends of their large intestines are capable of turning liquid excrement into cubical scat. [8]
The southern hairy-nosed wombat is adapted to digging; it has a stocky and robust build, flattened claws, and five digits. [8] It is also plantigrade.The body length ranges from 772 to 934 mm (30.4 to 36.8 in) with a body mass ranging from 19 to 32 kg (42 to 71 lb). [8]
Extant marsupials encompass many species, icluding kangaroos, koalas, opossums, possums, Tasmanian devils, wombats, wallabies, and bandicoots. Marsupials constitute a clade stemming from the last common ancestor of extant Metatheria, which encompasses all mammals more closely related to marsupials than to placentals.
Diprotodontids are members of the Vombatomorphia, meaning that their closest living relatives are wombats, though they are more closed related to Palorchestidae, with both families placed in the Diprotodontoidea. [8] Traditionally the family is divided into two subfamilies, Diprotodontinae and Zygomaturinae.
The common wombat (Vombatus ursinus), also known as the bare-nosed wombat, is a marsupial, one of three extant species of wombats and the only one in the genus Vombatus.It has three subspecies: Vombatus ursinus hirsutus, found on the Australian mainland; Vombatus ursinus tasmaniensis (Tasmanian wombat), found in Tasmania; and Vombatus ursinus ursinus (Bass Strait wombat), found on Flinders ...
Although the devil favours wombats because of the ease of predation and high fat content, it will eat all small native mammals such as wallabies, [79] bettong and potoroos, domestic mammals (including sheep and rabbits), [79] birds (including penguins), [80] fish, fruit, vegetable matter, insects, tadpoles, frogs and reptiles. Their diet is ...