PLANT-EATING MAMMALS 



183 



Root-eating Marsupials include the clumsy-looking Wombats 

 {PhascolomytdcB) of Australia and Tasmania, which possess short, 

 stout limbs provided with sharp, strong claws well suited for 

 burrowing. Plantigrade as to the hind-limbs, and badly off in 

 the matter of tail, they irresistibly suggest small bears in their 



Fig. 428. — The Wombat {Phascolomys wombat) 



appearance (fig. 428). Their food embraces roots as well as 

 grass and the like, and they are nocturnal in habit, remaining 

 during the day either in dark corners or in burrows they have 

 made. The teeth of a wombat present interesting analogies 

 to those of rodents, no doubt as the result of adaptation to 

 gnawing habits. All of them grow continuously throughout life 

 so as to compensate for wear. Of incisors but four are present, 

 shaped like those of a rabbit, and kept bevelled to a chisel-edge 

 owing to the fact that they are only covered by hard enamel in 

 front, which wears much more slowly than the softer dentine 

 behind it. Canines are entirely absent, and the remainder of the 

 dentition is made up of twenty cheek-teeth, five on each side of 

 either jaw. 



