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fur. The limbs are equal, stout and short. The feet have broad, naked, tuberculated soles; the forefeet with five distinct toes, each furnished with a See also:

long, strong and slightly curved See also:

NAIL (O. Eng. naegal, cf. Dutch, Ger., Swed. nagel; the word is also related to Lat. unguis, Gr. ovu, Sans. nakhas)

nail, the first and fifth considerably shorter than the other three. The See also:

HIND

hind-feet have a very short nailless first toe; the second, third and See also:

FOURTH

fourth toes partially See also:

UNITED

united by integument, of nearly equal length; the fifth distinct and rather shorter; these four are provided with long and curved nails. In the typical See also:

GROUP

group of the genus Phascolomys we find the following characters:--Fur rough and coarse; ears short and rounded; muzzle naked; postorbital See also:

PROCESS

process of the frontal See also:

bone obsolete; ribs fifteen pairs. Vertebrae: C. 7, D.

15, L. 4, S. 4, Ca. 10-12. The wombat of See also:

TASMANIA

Tasmania and the islands of See also:

Bass's Straits (P. ursinus), and the closely similar but larger P. platyrhinus of the See also:

SOUTHERN

southern portion of the mainland of See also:

AUSTRALIA

Australia, belong to this group. On the other See also:

hand, in the hairy-nosed wombat (P. latifrons) of Southern Australia, the fur is smooth and silky; the ears are large and more pointed; the muzzle is hairy; the frontal region of the See also:

SKULL

skull is broader than in the other See also:

section, with well-marked postorbital processes; and there are thirteen ribs. Vertebrae: C. 7, D. 13, L. 6, S. 4, Ca. 15-16.

In See also:

general See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form and See also:

ACTION

action wombats resemble small bears, having a somewhat similar shuffling manner of walking, but they are still shorter in the legs, and have a broader and flatter back. They live entirely on the ground, or in burrows or holes among rocks, and feed on grass, roots and other See also:

VEGETABLE

vegetable substances. They See also:

SLEEP (0. Eng. slcepan; Ger. schlafen; cf. Lat. labi, to glide, and " slip ")

sleep during the See also:

day, but wander forth at See also:

NIGHT

night in See also:

SEARCH, or VISIT AND SEARCH

search of See also:

food, and are shy and See also:

GENTLE (through the Fr. gentil, from Lat. gentilis, belonging to the same gens, or family)

gentle, though they can bite strongly when provoked. The only See also:

NOISE (a word of doubtful origin; O. Fr. nogse or nose; Prov. nausa, which points to Lat. nausea, sickness, as the origin; others take Lat. noxia, harm, as the source)

noise the Tasmanian wombat makes is a See also:

low hissing, but the hairy-nosed wombat is said to emit a short See also:

QUICK

quick grunt when annoyed. The prevailing See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour of the last-named See also:

SPECIES

species, as well as P. ursinus of Tasmania, is brownish See also:

grey. The large wombat of the mainland is variable in colour, some individuals being See also:

PALE (through Fr. pal, from Lat. palms, a stake, for paglus, from the stem pag- of pangere, to fix; " pole " is from the same original source)

pale yellowish See also:

brown, others dark grey and some See also:

black. The length of the head and body is about 3 ft. Fossil remains of wombats, some of larger See also:

SIZE

size than any now existing, have been found in caves and See also:

PLEISTOCENE

Pleistocene deposits in Australia. (R.

End of Article: WOMBAT

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