Wombats are the only animals in the world whose poop is cube-shaped. These burrowing marsupials, which are native to Australia, mark their territories with their poop whose shape prevents it from rolling away. It is said that the varying elasticity of their intestines help shape their cubic scat.
But how does such sharp-sided scat come from a round anus?
To get to the bottom of the mystery, scientists dissected a wombat that had died after being hit by a car. They examined the intestines and found that they contain two grooves where the guts are more elastic, which the team first reported in 2018.
In the new study, the researchers dissected two further wombats and tested the guts’ layers of muscle and tissue, finding regions of varied thickness and stiffness. They then created a 2D mathematical model to simulate how the regions expand and contract with the rhythms of digestion. The intestinal sections contract over several days, squeezing the poop as the gut pulls nutrients and water out of the feces, the team reports today in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s aptly titled journal Soft Matter.
Picture Credit : Google
