This is why wombats have cubic droppings | Science

Square droppings form in the wombat’s intestines, not the anus, according to a study published in the scientific journal Soft matter. Ecologist Scott Carver of the University of Tasmania – one of the few places where wildlife is found – co-authored the study. “There were colorful assumptions about the phenomenon, but no one ever really studied it.”

For example, there was the idea that the wombats would defecate the feces from the cube because their anus would be square, or the marsupials would actually have a “ normal ” form of feces, but “ block ” them- even after defecating. This turns out to be “complete nonsense”. Carver began the investigation after performing an autopsy on a wombat that died four years ago and noticed square droppings in the last yard of the intestine. “A remarkable discovery. Because how do you make cubes in something that is actually a flexible tube? »Says Carver The Guardian.

Because how do you make cubes in what is actually a flexible tube?

It turns out that the rhythmic movements of the intestine, divided into softer and more “firm” pieces, produce the square droppings. The theory behind it is that wombats keep their droppings from rolling. They have a very strong sense of smell and communicate with each other through their feces. Researchers have tried rolling different shapes of droppings down a slope, and the cubes roll much less far than round droppings. “It may be an exceptional study, but it answers a very specific question that has been asked by many people,” Carver says.

Wombats live in eastern Australia and Tasmania. It is the only animal in the world that produces cube-shaped feces.

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