Wombat
Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Infraclass: Marsupialia Order: Diprotodontia Suborder: Vombatiformes Family: Vombatidae
Description
Wombats are stocky, tailless, ursiform marsupials of the Linnaean taxonomic family Vombatidae. They are nocturnal, walk on four short legs, like to burrow, and are herbivorous.
The common wombat (Vombatus ursinus) reaches about three feet in length and produces distinctive cubical scat[1]. There are also two or three (depending on classification) rare species of hairy-nosed wombats of the genus Lasiorhinus[2].
One of the distinctive features of wombats is that their pouch opens towards the rear of the animal, unlike most other marsupials. This avoids the problem of the pouch filling with dirt whilst the animal is burrowing.