When Australia was populated by Europeans, the habitat of wombats was greatly reduced. The reasons for this were the destruction of people by their habitats, competition with imported species and hunting for human wombats.
The Queensland wombat is on the verge of extinction. From this kind of wombat today there are only 118 specimens that live in a small reserve in Queensland. Other two types of wombat occur more often and are not yet threatened with extinction.
Interestingly: in honor of wombats, an asteroid, a city, a group and an anti-tank gun are named.
five extinct births of wombats are known. It is believed that Wombat appeared in the Miocene, about 18 million years ago. The closest relatives of wombats are representatives of the family of marsupials (koalas). With them, wombats have numerous similarities in the structure of the skull, teeth and spermatozoa.
