---
title: "What the sources say about the Bare-Nosed Wombat | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "38 claims from the Bare-Nosed Wombat profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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---

# What the sources say about the Bare-Nosed Wombat (*Vombatus ursinus*)

> 38 claims from the Bare-Nosed Wombat profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Bare-Nosed Wombat](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/bare-nosed-wombat/)

## Bare-nosed Wombat. Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania.

https://nre.tas.gov.au/wildlife-management/fauna-of-tasmania/mammals/possums-kangaroos-and-wombats/wombat

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A tough-skinned rump | The rump of the wombat is covered by a very tough, thick skin. (note: tagline, first clause) |
| cube-shaped scats | The distinctive cube-shaped scats of the wombat are a useful indication of its comings and goings. (note: tagline, second clause) |
| the strength to crush an attacker against the burrow roof | The wombat is also capable of crushing attackers against the burrow roof. (note: tagline, third clause; replaces 'tunnels dug like an underground bunker', which had no claim) |
| A rump of very tough, thick skin that shields it from teeth and claws | The rump of the wombat is covered by a very tough, thick skin. If threatened, a wombat will dive into a nearby burrow or hollow log, using its rump as protection from the teeth and claws of its attacker. (note: stats.superpower, first half) |
| Forest, woodland, coastal scrub and heathland | In Queensland and northern New South Wales it occurs only in sclerophyll forest above 600 m above sea level, whereas in southern New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria they also occur at lower elevatons and in more open vegetation such as woodlands, coastal scrub and heathland. (note: stats.habitat; 'elevatons' is the source's spelling) |
| south-eastern Australia and Tasmania | The bare-nosed wombat occurs in Tasmania, southern Queensland, eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria with remnant populations in south-eastern South Australia and south-western Victoria. (note: stats.habitat, range) |
| Mostly grasses, plus shrubs, roots, sedges, bark, herbs and moss | Its main food is native grasses but shrubs, roots, sedges, bark and herbs are also eaten, while moss seems to be a particular delicacy. (note: stats.diet; 'native' dropped because metabarcoding-2024 found most identified plants were introduced) |
| a squat, bear-like body, small eyes and ears, and a large bare nose | The wombat is a fairly large, solidly built animal with a squat, round, bearlike body, small ears and eyes, and a large naked nose. |
| It lives in Tasmania, southern Queensland, eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria, with leftover populations in south-eastern South Australia and south-western Victoria | The bare-nosed wombat occurs in Tasmania, southern Queensland, eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria with remnant populations in south-eastern South Australia and south-western Victoria. (note: 'leftover' for 'remnant') |
| Mainland wombats average about 1 meter long and 27 kilograms, and can reach up to 35 kilograms | On the mainland, bare-nosed wombats average 1 m in length and 27 kg in weight yet can reach up to 1.2 m in length and up to 35 kg in weight. |
| Tasmanian wombats run smaller, averaging 85 centimeters and 20 kilograms, and the Flinders Island population is smaller again | The Tasmanian wombat is not as large or bulky, averaging 85 cm in length and 20 kg in weight, while the Flinders Island wombat is smaller still averaging only 75 cm in length. |
| Wild wombats live for more than five years | wombats live for more than five years in the wild |
| Their burrows can be up to 20 meters long and more than 2 meters below the ground, with numerous tunnels and entrances and sometimes more than one nest of sticks, leaves and grass | Burrows can be up to 20 m long and more than 2 m below the ground and have numerous connecting tunnels and entrances. There may also be more than one nest in the burrow, which they make from sticks, leaves and grasses. |
| A wombat's back end is covered in very tough, thick skin. If threatened, it dives into a nearby burrow or hollow log and uses its rump to shield itself from an attacker's teeth and claws | The rump of the wombat is covered by a very tough, thick skin. If threatened, a wombat will dive into a nearby burrow or hollow log, using its rump as protection from the teeth and claws of its attacker. |
| In Tasmania, its natural predators are Tasmanian devils and eagles | In Tasmania, their natural predators are Tasmanian devils and eagles |
| A wombat marks new objects in its home range with its scats, especially raised ones: fallen trees, rocks and even fresh mushrooms have been found with scats on top, and the cube shape makes them less likely to roll off | Any new object within a home range is a prime target for marking with scat, particularly if it is elevated. Fallen trees, fresh mushrooms, rocks and even an upright stick have been found with scats on top! The cube-shaped scats less likely to roll off such objects. |
| A wombat's diet is entirely plants, mostly grass | The diet of the wombat is composed entirely of plant material. Its main food is native grasses |
| their intestine is 9 meters long | their 9 m long intestine |
| A wombat's rump is covered by very tough, thick skin. If threatened, it dives into a nearby burrow or hollow log and uses its rump to shield itself from the attacker's teeth and claws. It is also capable of crushing an attacker against the burrow roof. In Tasmania, its natural predators are Tasmanian devils and eagles. | The rump of the wombat is covered by a very tough, thick skin. If threatened, a wombat will dive into a nearby burrow or hollow log, using its rump as protection from the teeth and claws of its attacker. The wombat is also capable of crushing attackers against the burrow roof. In Tasmania, their natural predators are Tasmanian devils and eagles (note: FAQ 2; moved from sandiegozoo-wombat, a page for all three wombat species, to this species' own account) |

## Vombatus ursinus (coarse-haired wombat). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Vombatus_ursinus/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| back legs strong enough to crush an attacker against the burrow roof | They use a similar tactic for dealing with predators in their burrow, backing up at the attacker and using their strong back legs to crush their head against the roof of the burrow. (note: stats.superpower, second half; the crushing is done with the back legs, so the old 'rump skin used to ... crush an attacker' was split) |
| Wombats dig with their front paws, then back out, bulldozing the loose dirt backwards with their rump | When burrowing, they remove dirt in front of them using the claws, then "bulldoze" the dirt backwards using their rump. (note: 'front paws' and 'back out' from nre-tas: 'The forepaws are used for digging and, after pushing the dirt to one side the wombat will back out') |
| With a predator inside its burrow, a wombat can back up at the attacker and use its strong back legs to crush its head against the roof | They use a similar tactic for dealing with predators in their burrow, backing up at the attacker and using their strong back legs to crush their head against the roof of the burrow. (note: 'can' from nre-tas: 'The wombat is also capable of crushing attackers against the burrow roof.') |
| a digger that claws out the dirt in front of it, then bulldozes it backwards with its rump | When burrowing, they remove dirt in front of them using the claws, then "bulldoze" the dirt backwards using their rump. (note: vibe.reason, settle #271: replaces 'heavy down-under swagger, and unyielding burrow weight') |

## Wombat. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/wombat

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a large bare nose that gives the species its name | There are three species of wombat: common, or bare-nosed wombats, which have a bare nose; and two species of hairy-nosed wombats that have, well, hairy noses! |
| Wombats walk with a waddle, but they have powerful legs, and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says they can run up to 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour) when needed. The zoo's figure is for wombats in general, not this species on its own. | Wombats walk with a waddle. They may look pudgy and slow, but they have powerful legs and can run up to 25 miles per hour (40 kilometers per hour) when needed! (note: FAQ 3; the page covers Vombatus ursinus, Lasiorhinus krefftii and Lasiorhinus latifrons, and no species source states a speed) |

## AnAge entry for Vombatus ursinus. Human Ageing Genomic Resources, AnAge Build 15.

https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Vombatus_ursinus

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The longevity record is a captive wombat that was still alive when it was estimated to be at least 30 years old | Maximum longevity 30 years (captivity) ... One captive animal was still alive when it was estimated to be at least 30 years old (note: corroborated by adw-bare-nosed-wombat: 'the longest a wombat lived in captivity was approximately 30 years') |

## Yang et al. (2021). Intestines of non-uniform stiffness mold the corners of wombat feces. Soft Matter.

https://doi.org/10.1039/d0sm01230k

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Wombat droppings come out as cubes | renowned for its cubic feces |
| Dissections show the cubes form in the last 17 percent of the intestine, and tests on the gut wall found regions twice as thick and four times as stiff as others | Wombat dissections show that cubes are formed within the last 17 percent of the intestine. Using histology and tensile testing, we discover that the cross-section of the intestine exhibits regions with a two-fold increase in thickness and a four-fold increase in stiffness (note: 'as others' is the model's 'alternating stiff and soft regions'; the abstract compares regions within the gut wall, not the last 17 percent with the rest of the intestine) |
| Researchers think those stiff regions help the gut's squeezing contractions form the corners | which we hypothesize facilitates the formation of corners by contractions of the intestine |
| Dissections show a wombat's cubes form in the last 17 percent of its intestine. Tests on the gut wall found regions with a two-fold increase in thickness and a four-fold increase in stiffness, and the researchers think those stiff regions help the gut's squeezing contractions form the corners. | Wombat dissections show that cubes are formed within the last 17 percent of the intestine. Using histology and tensile testing, we discover that the cross-section of the intestine exhibits regions with a two-fold increase in thickness and a four-fold increase in stiffness, which we hypothesize facilitates the formation of corners by contractions of the intestine (note: FAQ 1) |

## Carver, Stannard & Martin (2024). The Distinctive Biology and Characteristics of the Bare-Nosed Wombat (Vombatus ursinus). Annual Review of Animal Biosciences.

https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-animal-021022-042133

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| one of the largest burrowing plant-eaters | Though among the largest fossorial herbivores (note: opening sentence; nre-tas says 'the world's largest burrowing herbivorous mammal', the 2024 review only 'among the largest', so the page takes the weaker claim) |
| Their food is poor in nutrients | they have a nutrient-poor diet |
| A review of the species' biology puts their metabolism, the rate at which the body burns energy, among the lowest of any mammal over 10 kilograms | a metabolism among the lowest extreme for mammals >10 kg |
| That slow metabolism may give wombats an edge over animals competing for the same food, and a burrowing life may protect them from predators, fires and climate extremes | Metabolic depression may confer advantages over resource competitors and fossorial lifestyle protection from predators, fires, and climatic extremes. (note: the source gives the advantage over competitors to metabolic depression and the protection to the fossorial (burrowing) lifestyle; the old sentence gave the protection to the metabolism) |

## Old et al. (2024). DNA metabarcoding analysis of the bare-nosed wombat (Vombatus ursinus) diet. Ecology and Evolution.

https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11432

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| One DNA study of droppings from five sites in New South Wales identified 209 plant species in the diet, and most of the plants identified were introduced species | The current study determined the diet of wombats through DNA metabarcoding across five study sites in New South Wales ... The list of 209 plant species identified as eaten by wombats in this study is much higher than previously reported ... Most dietary items identified were introduced plant species. (note: droppings: Methods 2.2, 'Scat samples (112) were collected seasonally'; of plants identified to species level 73.4% were introduced) |

## Old, Hunter & Wolfenden (2018). Who utilises bare-nosed wombat burrows? Australian Zoologist.

https://doi.org/10.7882/az.2018.006

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| camera traps at wombat burrows have recorded rabbits, possums, foxes, cats and birds going inside to shelter or hunt, and foraging at the entrance and in the spoil | The species observed utilising wombat burrows included wombats, rabbits, macropods, possums, murids, foxes, cats and birds. The utilisation of wombat burrows by these species included entry into the burrow for shelter and hunting, and exploitation of the burrow entrance and spoil for foraging (note: dropped macropods/murids from the list rather than renaming them; trimmed the quote before 'and potentially geophagic purposes', which we don't claim) |
| Camera traps set at wombat burrows recorded rabbits, members of the kangaroo family, possums, foxes, cats and birds using the burrows. Some went inside to shelter or hunt, and some foraged at the entrance and in the spoil, the heap of soil dug out of the burrow. | In this study camera traps were used to report the use of bare-nosed wombat Vombatus ursinus burrows by other species. ... The species observed utilising wombat burrows included wombats, rabbits, macropods, possums, murids, foxes, cats and birds. The utilisation of wombat burrows by these species included entry into the burrow for shelter and hunting, and exploitation of the burrow entrance and spoil for foraging (note: FAQ 4; 'members of the kangaroo family' is what 'macropods' means, since the abstract does not say which macropods; trimmed before 'and potentially geophagic purposes', which we don't claim) |

## Old et al. (2025). Vombatus ursinus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T40556A258654868.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2025-1.rlts.t40556a258654868.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). (note: stats.conservationStatus; the reference's cached text is GBIF's copy of the Red List category, read because iucnredlist.org refuses scripts) |