Southern Hairy-Nosed Wombat or Hairy-Nosed Wombat: Morphology

Lasiorhinus latifrons

Skull and Teeth

The wombat has a broad, flat topped skull. There are two powerful incisors, on each of the top and bottom jaws, which tear the coarse plant material. The canines are absent, and there is one premolar and four molars on each side of each jaw. These are very strong with powerful grinding surfaces. All the teeth grow continuously throughout life which is very important for their survival. Without this capacity their teeth would soon wear out on the coarse desert plant material and the animals would starve.

Teeth formula: I 1/1; C 0; PM 1/1; M 4/4.

Body Shape and Size

The animals are squat shaped with a thick neck, strong stumpy legs and barely noticeable tail. Large animals are just under a metre long and weigh up to about 30 or 32 kilograms. The fur is coarse and greyish-brown.

Comparison with other animals

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