Studying the bare-nosed wombat (Vombatus ursinus), the researchers first examined the skull structure of the animals. Four wombats that had been injured in road collisions were euthanised, allowing the researchers to do cranial dissections.
A wombat looking over a fence.Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
They found the wombats have a “vomeronasal organ”, sometimes described as a second nose. Other animals – such as snakes, lizards, rodents, horses, cattle, dogs, cats, lemurs and elephants – also have this organ, and research has found its purpose is to detect pheromones and other semi-volatile chemicals for social cues, mating, and predator or prey detection.
The research also included field surveys on Maria Island in Tasmania, where McMahon collected wombat scat. Chemical analysis suggested that the droppings were individually distinct, and was probably how the short-sighted animals could tell each other apart.
A bare-nosed wombat in Port Arthur.Credit: Getty Images
McMahon also collected scat and transported it to a latrine more than 500 metres from the first location. She observed wombats spent a long time investigating the new smells.
“It was really exciting to look at their chemical composition and find that they were individually distinct,” McMahon said. “That linked in so beautifully with our experimental testing, showing that they did tend to investigate for longer when new scents were introduced to their landscape from unfamiliar wombats.
Credit: Matt Golding
“In a way they’re not solitary, they’re just not having the physical contact, but they’re having the social contact through odour to know who’s around and who’s doing what.”
Professor Peter Banks, a biologist at the University of Sydney who was not part of the research, said several species use latrines as socialisation centres and send messages through odour.