Bare-nosed wombats, or common wombats, are found in the forests of hilly landscapes of southern and southeastern Australia and Tasmania.
The furry marsupials are known for producing distinctive cube-shaped poop, which researchers believe then spread tactically to communicate with each other.
Now scientists at the University of Tasmania have discovered more about the curious phenomenon.
Using laboratory tests and mathematical models, a team of researchers found that there are two rigid and two flexible areas around the perimeter of the wombat gut. Its gut, 10 meters long, is about 10 times the length of a wombat’s body.
“This ability to form relatively uniform, cleanly cut feces is unique in the animal kingdom,” Scott Carver, a wildlife ecologist at the University of Tasmania, said in a statement.
“They place these feces at prominent points in their home, such as around a rock or block, to communicate with each other. Our research showed that these blocks form in the last 17 percent of the colon,” he said.
The researchers say that wombat poop’s distinctive cube shape is caused by the drying of the stool in the colon and muscle contractions, which form the uniform size and angles of the poop.
“Bare-nosed wombats are known for producing distinctive, cube-shaped cats. This ability to form relatively uniform, cleanly cut feces is unique in the animal kingdom,” added Carver.
In humans, food travels through the intestines in one or two days, but a wombat’s digestion process can take up to four times longer, allowing the animal to get all possible nutrients from its food. The creatures also produce poo that is much drier than human feces – because they can get water out of the gut better.
Carver said the discovery that the cubes are made in a soft tube “reveals a whole new way to produce cubes,” which could have implications for production, clinical pathology and digestion.