Did you know that bare-nosed wombats actually have cube-shaped poo?
We didn’t either, but now an international study from the Royal Society of Chemistry has got to the bottom (sorry) of why the native animals literally have a box seat.
It turns out that the cube shape is formed within the intestines – not at the (uh) point of exit – as researchers had previously thought.
Earlier theories have included that the marsupials had a square-shaped anal sphincter or that the faeces were being squeezed between the pelvic bones.
The discovery started by accident when University of Tasmania wildlife ecologist Dr Scott Carver was dissecting a wombat for research into mange disease.
This led to a larger study of wombat faeces (as you do) which concluded the cubed poo is created in the last 17% of a wombat’s intestine.
The slow passage of the faeces and differing stiffness within the intestines produces the square shape – before exiting via its round anus.
The scientists say there’s still more to be learned however about wombat behaviour to fully understand why they evolved to produce cubes in the first place.
We’ll leave that messy job to them.
