Our mystery animal is (drumroll please)…

The Bare-nosed Wombat!! The scientific name of this animal is Vombatus ursinus. It is also known as the Common Wombat.

There are three species (types) of wombat in Australia, the Bare-nosed Wombat, the Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat and the Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat.

They all live in burrows in the ground. The Bare-nose Wombat (pictured) is the largest burrowing mammal in the world! Wombat burrows can extend to 30m long and 3.5 metres below the ground. Because they love to tunnel, wombats have evolved a backwards facing pouch so their young don’t get a face full of dirt!

Wombats are particularly possessive of their feeding grounds, and will mark out scent trails and use their dropping to mark boundaries. They do have cube-shaped poo, which stops it rolling away in hilly areas.

Wombats also have a characteristically hard area of cartilage on their rumps and backside that they use to harden burrow walls and in self-defence.

Are you curious for more? Check out the links below!