Common wombat
Amazing fact
The common wombat’s incisors keep growing and can cut through obstacles while it digs.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
No sign-up needed. You can save notes on this device.
An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
The common wombat’s incisors keep growing and can cut through obstacles while it digs.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Common wombat
- Scientific name
- Vombatus ursinus
- Japanese name
- ヒメウォンバット
- Group
- Land mammals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Diprotodontia
- Family
- Vombatidae
- Genus
- Vombatus
A marsupial, like kangaroos, found mainly in southeastern Australia. Because it does not climb trees, it is sometimes called the "koala of the ground."
With the strong claws of its front feet, it digs long burrows underground to live in. It pushes the loose dirt backward with its rump.
Its eyesight is not very good, but it has a keen sense of smell. It is active mainly at night and eats grass, bark and roots.
How the Common wombat lives
In colder seasons, it sometimes basks in the sun during the day. It sometimes visits the same places repeatedly while looking for food. It may build a nest of grass, leaves and sticks in a resting chamber.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Size
- 700–1,100 mm
- Weight
- 20–35 kg
- Lifespan
- up to 30 years in captivity
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)
- Diet
- Grasses, sedges, moss, and sometimes shrubs, roots, tubers, and bark
- Range
- Eastern Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and elsewhere
Where the Common wombat has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ヒメウォンバット
- 简体中文
- 塔斯马尼亚袋熊
- 繁體中文
- 塔斯馬尼亞袋熊
- 한국어
- 애기웜뱃
- Español
- Wómbat común
- Français
- Wombat Commun
- Deutsch
- Nacktnasenwombat
- Português (Brasil)
- Vombate comum
- Italiano
- Vombato comune
- العربية
- ومبت شائع
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Wombat biasa
- Русский
- Короткошёрстный вомбат
- Türkçe
- Vombat
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 池田市 — ウォンバットを知ろうChecked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Vombatus ursinusChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeRELATIVES
Others in Diprotodontia
MORE TO MEET
