Wombat poop is cube-shaped & now we know why

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Holy poop! Scientists have finally figured out why wombat dookie comes out in cubes.

You knew that, right?

Surely, we all knew that wombats poop little cubes, so here we go with the why….

So, wombats are adorable. They are fuzzy and docile and look sort of like a giant rodent, but wombats are not rodents. They’re marsupials and they are the only marsupial — or animal of any kind, that we know of — that poops cubes.

This fact has baffled scientists for as long as we have known about the mysterious formations. Oh, there have been a ton of hypotheses. The most widely accepted has been that the cubes were formed….on exit.

But, no!

As happens so often, the answer was found accidentally. Dr Scot Culver, of the University of Tasmania (where I assume you can pursue a degree course in cartoon spinning, destruction, and devilry), was researching how to better treat mange in wombats (yep, less cute when afflicted with mange, I agree.). While dissecting a wombat cadaver he discovered the cubes in the large intestine.

Oh, yes….the poops are coming from inside the house! AHHHHH!!

Wait, no,I mean, from inside the wombat! AHHHHHHH!

Culver found that different sections of the wombat intestines have varying thicknesses and rigidity. As the “soft matter” passes through the different sections of the intestine. These sections force the poop into its signatory cube shape.

So, the mystery is solved, science may have discovered how to make cubes with tubes (that’s apparently useful somehow), and we can all finally get a good night’s sleep!

Hooray, Dr Culver. Hooray indeed.

This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.org.

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