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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.
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 ...
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]
Seven of the nine known families within this suborder are extinct; only the families Phascolarctidae, with the koala, and Vombatidae, with three extant species of wombat, survive. Among the extinct families are the Diprotodontidae , which includes the rhinoceros sized Diprotodon , believed to be the largest marsupials ever, as well as the ...
Vombatus hacketti, Hackett's wombat, is an extinct species of wombat that lived in Southwest Australia during the Late Pleistocene. It survived until very recently, going extinct between 10,000 and 20,000 BP.
Vombatus is a genus of marsupial that contains a single living species, the common wombat (Vombatus ursinus). The recently extinct Hackett's wombat ( Vombatus hacketti ) is also a member of this genus.
Phascolonus is an extinct genus of giant wombat known from the Pliocene [1] and Pleistocene of Australia. There is only a single known species, Phascolonus gigas, the largest wombat ever known to have existed, estimated to weigh as much as 200 kg (450 lb) [2] or 360 kg (790 lb). [3] It was described by Richard Owen in 1859.