WOMBAT, Phascolomys, a genus of marsupial quadrupeds, constituting a distinct family, phaseolomydce, and of which only one species is known, phascolomys wombat, a native of Australia, abounding chiefly in mountainous districts of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Van Diemen's land, and in the islands of Bass's strait. In many of its characters, it resembles the rodentia. The incisors arc two in each jaw, long, and chisel-like; they are hollow at the base, and continue to grow as they are worn away; there are no canine teeth; and the molars are fi'e on each side in both jaws. There is a wide gap between the incissors and the molars. The is an animal of clumsy form, having stout limbs and a blunt muzzle. It is 2 or 3 ft: long, plump, with a thick coat of long, grayish brown, coarse wooly hair; the head large, flat, broad, with small eyes and ears, the upper lip cleft; the feet five-toed, the claws long, except those of the inner toes of the hind feet; the tail very short. It is plantigrade,
and the soles of the feet are broad and naked. It is nocturnal in its habits, slow in its motions; feeds on vegetable substances, and digs up roots' with its claws; it makes its abode in holes among rocks, or in burrows dug by itself. It produces three or four young at a birth. It is a creature of little intelligence, but gentle. and easily domesticated to a certain extent, not seeming to care much for any change of circumstances, so long as its wants are supplied. It shows considerable snappishness, however, if provoked. Its flesh is preferred to that of any other quadruped of Australia. It isgenerally fat, and in flavor resembles pork. Wombats have frequently been brought alive to Britain.—The remains of a fossil species have been found in the caves at Wellington valley, Australia.