Is wombat poo really square?

Yes, strange – even peculiar – but true!Wombats have two sets of muscles in their anal sphincter.  These muscles are parallel to each other so the resulting waste is square, or rather cuboid in shape.  It could just be an accident of nature but this squareness could also have a use.  Wombats use their feces to mark their territory and often deposit them on ‘wobbly’ terrain such as logs or stones.

Image Credit Flickr User El Captain

The shape may help the marker stay there for longer.  Incidentally, wombats have even been known to put their ‘marker’ on top of mushrooms! It would be great if we could have shown you a picture of that but…