For years, scientists have been wondering why wombat poop is cube-shaped (yes, really). Now, they say they have got to the bottom of the mystery. Bare-nosed wombats, or common wombats, can be found in the woodlands of hilly landscapes in south and southeastern Australia and in Tasmania. The furry marsupials are renowned for producing distinctive, cuboid poop, which researchers believe they then disperse tactically in order to communicate with one another. Now, scientists at the University of Tasmania have discovered more about the curious phenomenon. Using laboratory testing and mathematical models, a team of researchers found there are two stiff and two flexible areas around the circumference of the wombat intestine. The intestine, at 33 feet long, is around 10 times the length of a wombat s body.
Scientists Learn Even More About Wombats and Their Beautiful Cubed Poop
Share
A wombat mother with her joey. (Image: P. Yang et al., 2021)
To sign up for our daily newsletter covering the latest news, features and reviews, head HERE. For a running feed of all our stories, follow us on Twitter HERE. Or you can bookmark the Gizmodo Australia homepage to visit whenever you need a news fix.
The world makes more sense today, thanks to new research detailing the digestive processes responsible for the bare-nosed wombat’s incredible cube-shaped poop.
Nature can be so magical.
For reasons not entirely understood, the bare-nosed wombat (