Wombats communicate with their poo claims bombshell science report
It is a a little known fact that wombats produce cube-shaped poo when they go to the toilet.
And why the creatures produce such unusual faeces has long remained a mystery, with theories running riot.
But now scientists have discovered the unusual waste matter starts life within the final 17 percent of the intestine – not when the animal squeezes it out as first thought.
And they reckon it's because wombats are talking with their poo.
Dr Scott Carver, one of the authors of the research paper, made the discovery accidentally when he dissected a wombat several years ago.
The doctor thinks the poo could be cube-shaped because of their desire to not want it to roll away.
He believes the animals don't want to roll it away because they communicate through their faeces.
The research was published in aptly-named scientific journal Soft Matter.
The expert dismissed speculation that the animals had square-shaped anus sphincters.
Dr Carver also called a previous suggestion wombats pat the poo into shape following deposition "complete nonsense".
The wombats biology was further explored using faecal fluid mechanics and complex mathematical modelling.
The different muscle thickness included two stiff and two more flexible regions.
Wombat intestines are 10 metres long – about 10 times the length of their body – and their digestive process takes up to four times longer than humans.
The digestive processes allow them to extract as many nutrients as possible from a grassy diet.
Dr Carver received a satirical Nobel Prize in 2019 with his colleagues, awarded for research that makes people laugh and think.
According to the expert, his findings could be applied to other fields including manufacturing, clinical pathology and digestive health.
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