Wombats are typically around 76 cm long, and there are two main types- hairy nosed and common. The former weighs ~19-32 kg while the latter weighs around 25-40 kg.

In terms of habitat, they are indigenous to Australia and Tasmania, wherein they live in forests, mountains, and grasslands. They are efficient diggers, and create burrows consisting of many tunnels and sleeping chambers (3-30 m long, and 3.5 m deep). Some wombats even have discrete burrosw that they live in during the duration of the year.

Some wombats are social (hairy-nosed) whilst others are loners (common). A group of wombats is called a mob or a colony.

Wombats are nocturnal, and although they do not climb trees, they are vigorous swimmers.

In terms of digestion, they typically consume things such as herbs, grasses, roots, scrubs, and bark. They have special enzymes in their stomachs to help digest fortuitous roughage! In total, it takes around 14 days for a wombat to digest a meal.

Further along, wombats pass cuboidal feces. They actually use these to mark their territory by placing them on rocks, fallen trees, and/or fresh mushrooms. The cuboidal shape ensures that they do not roll of (the feces, that is).

Wombats mate during times of food abundance, in order to wean their young in the best possible conditions. Male wombats fight for the right to mate with females, and the male wombats will chase a female until she slows down long enough that he can catch up to her to mate. While the female wombats are being chased, they make a coughing noise. The gestation period of a wombat is approximately 21-30 days. Only one joey (baby wombat) is born at a time.

The mother gives birth every two years. At birth, a joey’s weight is 2 grams, and it is the size of a jellybean. The joey stays in the mother’s pouch for about five months. A wombat’s pouch opens towards the bottom, which prevents dirt and debris from entering whilst the burrowing is occurring. The joey clamps onto its mother’s teat to ensure that it does not fall out. After these months have passed, the joey will climb in and out of the pouch for another few months. Finally, the wombat will be considered mature at 1.5-3 years old. The lifespan of a wombat is 5-15 years in the wild and over 20 years in captivity.

Only the Northern hairy-nosed wombat is considered endangered, which is due to their habitat quality declining because of invasive exotic grasses. During the Pleistocene, herds of large wombats the size of rhinoceroses traversed the plains of southern Australia. Wombats can run up to 40 km/h.

 Wombat bottoms have very thick skin and are filled with cartilage, so this withstands biting quite well. As a result, wombats will often use their rears to block their burrow entrances for safety purposes!