Common wombat

Common wombat[1]
Vombatus ursinus ursinus, Maria Island, Tasmania
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Vombatidae
Genus: Vombatus
Species:
V. ursinus
Binomial name
Vombatus ursinus
(Shaw, 1800)
Common wombat range
Synonyms

Reference[3]

  • Wombatus fossor
  • Phascolomis wombat
  • Phascolomis vombatus
  • Phascolomys platyrhinus
  • Phascolomys fuscus
  • Phascolomys mitchellii
  • Phascolomys niger
  • Phascolomys setosus
  • Phascolomys assimilis

The common wombat (Vombatus ursinus), also known as the bare-nosed wombat, is a marsupial, one of three extant species of wombats and the only one in the genus Vombatus. It has three subspecies: Vombatus ursinus hirsutus, found on the Australian mainland; Vombatus ursinus tasmaniensis (Tasmanian wombat), found in Tasmania; and Vombatus ursinus ursinus (Bass Strait wombat), found on Flinders Island and Maria Island in the Bass Strait.

The mainland species is the largest of the three, with its largest specimens measuring up to 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) and 35 kg (77 lb). The common wombat is herbivorous, mainly nocturnal, and lives in burrows. Being a marsupial, its joeys inhabit a pouch on the mother for around five months after birth.

  1. ^ Groves, C. P. (2005). "Genus Vombatus ursinus". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 43–44. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ Taggart, D.; Martin, R.; Menkhorst, P. (2016). "Vombatus ursinus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T40556A21958985. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T40556A21958985.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  3. ^ S. Jackson; C. Groves (2015). Taxonomy of Australian Mammals. p. 101.