File:Vombatus_ursinus_-Maria_Island_National_Park.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
common wombat
Sign in to saveAlso known as Vombatus ursinus, coarse-haired wombat, bare-nosed wombat, forest wombat, Bass Strait wombat, Flinders Island wombat, Tasmanian wombat
species of marsupial
Species
Least Concernvia IUCN
~8 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The common wombat (Vombatus ursinus), also known as the bare-nosed wombat, is a marsupial, one of three extant species of wombats and the sole extant member of 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 Island and Maria Island in the Bass Strait.
The mainland subspecies is the largest of the three, with its largest specimens measuring up to 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) and 35 kg (77 lb). The common wombat is herbivorous, mainly nocturnal, and lives in burrows. Being a marsupial, its joeys inhabit a pouch on the mother for around five months after birth.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “common wombat” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.