The Southern Hairy-Nosed Wombat (Lasiorhinus latifrons) is the smallest of three species of wombats, an animal native to Australia.
It is a marsupial mammal, because it has a pouch (like a kangaroo). Baby wombats grow in the pouch for about six months.
The Southern Hairy-Nosed has silky grey-brown fur. It has pointed ears, sharp rodent-like teeth, and a hairy nose. It is adapted to digging, because it has a stocky and robust build, and flattened claws with five digits.
It grows to 77-93 centimetres (30-37 inches) long and weighs about 19-32 kilograms (42-71 pounds).
The Wombat is the only animal known to produce cube-shaped manure, called droppings. It has elastic-shaped lower intestines, which mould its poo into separate cubes measuring 2 square centimetres. Zoologists think that the reason is so that the manure does not roll away. The Wombat uses its poo to mark its territory and signal its presence to other Wombats, and often stacks its cubed poo in a pile.
[Location of photographs: Burra in South Australia, Australia]
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM