What Is The Australian Common Wombat Like?
Common wombats reach about one metre in length – both sexes are roughly the same size. They have short, pointed ears, cheek pouches, a stump of a tail and shovel-like paws. They eat mainly grasses and roots (though some also eat fungi), and have teeth that are adapted to cope with a fibrous diet. The incisor teeth are perfect for gnawing through tough grasses and, like those of rodents, they never stop growing. Females have pouches containing two teats for suckling their single young. Like so many marsupials, they provide a fine example of convergent evolution – the process whereby completely unrelated animals evolve similar adaptations to a certain environment and life-style, and consequently come to resemble each other. Wombats are social animals but their activity, even during mating, is kept to a minimum to conserve water and energy. Males tend to avoid one another as much as possible during courtship but, if a confrontation is unavoidable, one animal will try to bite the flank of
