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True. True! Roughly 2 cm cubes, stacked on rocks as signposts.
Where it came from
Australian bushwalkers had noticed the neat little cubes on logs and rocks for a long time before anyone explained them.
Why it’s true
A bare-nosed wombat produces around eighty to a hundred cubes a night. A 2021 study found that the walls of the last part of its intestine have alternating stiff and flexible bands, which mould the drying droppings into faces and corners.
Wombats have poor eyesight and use the droppings as scent markers, often on raised spots. Cubes are less likely to roll away.
Further reading
- Yang et al., “Intestines of non-uniform stiffness mold the corners of wombat feces”, Soft Matter (2021)