While wombat feces are very dry due to slow transit time, what factor alone does not account for the unique cubic shape?
Answer
The dryness of the feces
The dryness of the wombat's output is a result of their slow digestive transit time—up to two weeks—which allows for highly efficient moisture extraction, typical of animals conserving water in arid environments. However, this dryness alone is insufficient to explain the shape, as many desert herbivores produce very dry droppings but expel them in standard spherical pellets or balls. The factor that separates the wombat's output is the internal physical constraint: the variable elasticity of the colon wall, which sculpts the material into sharp angles.
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