Common wombat
species of marsupial
The common wombat (Vombatus ursinus), also known as the bare-nosed wombat, is a marsupial, one of three extant species of wombats and the sole extant member of 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 subspecies 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.
Taxonomy
The common wombat was first described by George Shaw in 1800.
There are three extant subspecies of the common wombat, confirmed in 2019:
Bass Strait (common) wombat, also written "Common Wombat (Bass Strait)" or "Bass Strait wombat" (V. u. ursinus), the nominate form, was once found throughout the Bass Strait Islands, but is now restricted to Flinders Island to the north of Tasmania, and to Maria Island to the east of Tasmania where it was introduced. Its population was estimated at 74,000 in 2023.
Hirsute wombat (V. u.
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