Mammals
Southern Hairy-Nosed Wombat
Lasiorhinus latifrons · also called southern hairy-nosed wombats
Emerging from one of many entrances to a sprawling burrow system, a southern hairy-nosed wombat begins its nightly search for tough grasses, sharing its underground network with a loose community of neighbours across the arid grassland it calls home.
Overview
The southern hairy-nosed wombat, Lasiorhinus latifrons, is a burrowing herbivore native to arid desert and grassland habitat across parts of South Australia and neighbouring regions. Its extensive, sometimes shared burrow systems, slow metabolism suited to arid conditions, and distinctively hairy nose make it one of the more physically and socially distinctive wombat species found anywhere in Australia.
An arid specialist built to endure
Where water and quality forage are scarce, the southern hairy-nosed wombat gets by on a slow metabolism and an extensive underground refuge, digging burrow systems substantial enough to shelter not just itself but a loose community of neighbouring wombats.
Status
Least Concern, remaining widespread and locally abundant across suitable arid desert and grassland habitat throughout southern Australia.
Southern Hairy-Nosed Wombat: common questions
Why is it called the hairy-nosed wombat?
This species has a broader, more heavily haired nose than its close relative the common wombat, a feature prominent enough to give the species both its common name and one of the clearest ways to distinguish it from other wombat species in the field.
How does the southern hairy-nosed wombat survive in arid habitat?
This species has a notably slow metabolism and can survive on very little water, adaptations well suited to the tough, drought-resistant grasses and arid grassland habitat it occupies across much of its range in southern Australia.
Do southern hairy-nosed wombats live alone or in groups?
This species is more socially tolerant than many other wombat species, digging sprawling multi-entrance burrow systems that are sometimes shared or overlap with those of multiple other individuals within the same local area.
How is the southern hairy-nosed wombat different from the northern hairy-nosed wombat?
The southern hairy-nosed wombat remains widespread and abundant across much of South Australia, while the northern hairy-nosed wombat is one of the rarest mammals on Earth, restricted to an extremely small population in a very limited part of Queensland.