Wolverine

Wolverine
(//Gulo gulo//) This species scientific name is Gulo which is Latin for 'glutton', meaning one who eats a lot, and is a reference to the legendary ravenous appetite of the beastie.


 * Domain: || Eukarya ||
 * Kingdom: || Animalia ||
 * Phylum: || Chordata ||
 * Class: || Mammalia ||
 * Order: || Carnivora ||
 * Family: || Mustelidae ||
 * Genus: || //**Gulo**// ||
 * Species: || //**G. gulo**// ||

Habitat
Wolverines have a circumpolar distribution in the northern hemisphere, and are found from the western United States, Canada, and Alaska to Siberia, Russia, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia.The wolverine used to be found in southern California and the Baltic States, but due to human disturbance and poaching, this species has retreated northwards.

The wolverine inhabits the boreal forest.The taiga or boreal forest has a subartic climate with very large temperature range between seasons, but the long and cold winter is the dominant feature.Mean annual temperature generally varies from -5 °C to 5 °C.The taiga experiences relatively low precipitation throughout the year (generally 200–750 mm annually, 1,000 mm in some areas). They live there for their whole life.The topography of this animal's habitat is the largest part of the Arctic is composed of permenent ice and tundra north of the tree line.

The biotic factors of this species habitat are very wide.Since the wolverine lives mostly on boreal forests or the tundra, some of the flora species that are found in there are some small-leaved decidious trees like birch, alder, willow, and poplar; mostly in areas escaping the most extreme winter cold. Another flora is the evergreen species in the taiga (spruce, fir, and pine) have a number of adaptations specifically for survival in harsh taiga winters, although larch, the most cold-tolerant of all trees. There are many species of Fauna that share the wolverine's habitat. A number of wildlife species threatened or endangered with extinction can be found in the Canadian boreal forest, including woodland Caribou, American Black Bear, and Grizzly Bear,habitat loss, mainly due to logging, is the primary cause of decline for these species.

The wolverine has many physical and behavioral adaptaions. Its legs are short, while its large five-toed paws and plantigrade posture facilitate movement through deep snow.Wolverines have thick, dark, oily fur which is highly hydrophobic, making it resistant to frost.Like many other mustelids, it has potent anal scent glands used for marking territory and sexual signaling.Wolverines, like other mustelids, possess a special upper molar in the back of the mouth that is rotated 90 degrees, towards the inside of the mouth. This special characteristic allows wolverines to tear off meat from prey or carrion that has been frozen solid.

__Species Interactions__
Wolverines depend strongly on carrion from large mammals for their basic diet.Meaning this animal is a scavenger but could also be a predator as well. Populations in both the U.S. and Canada co-occur with large populations of several ungulate species like deers, and moose.They also live arroung bears and mountain lions, who sometimes leave carrion that help the wolverines to survive.Wolverines may occasionally be attacked and killed by gray wolves, mountain lions, and other large carnivores, but they are seldom eaten

To facilitate their scavenging lifestyle wolverines have evolved robust skulls, strong teeth, powerful jaws, and a generally athletic musculature that allow them to crush large bones, consume frozen carrion, and excavate large carcasses buried in deep snow.Wolverines might be best described as "opportunistic omnivores" in the summer when they eat berries, insect larvae, small mammals, ground nesting birds, and even fish. The importance of berries in wolverine diets may be underestimated It is clearly adapted to colder climates, which explains its broad-scale association with higher latitudes and altitudes; the species may be physiologically unable to persist in warmer and drier grasslands and high deserts.

__Reproduction__
Like many other mustelids, it has potent anal scent glands used for marking territory and sexual signaling. Durable food caches may be especially important for females raising young.

Wolverines are polygamous, and during the breeding season males and females form pairs that last 2-3 days. Males do not assist in the rearing of young.

Snow cover is important in protecting natal dens against predators .Dens are often located in talus slopes and alpine cirques that retain their snow cover into the spring suggests that dens may be overly represented in alpine areas because they are more easily discovered by researchers in such locales. Greater search effort should be focused on forested areas where dens would be more hidden.

A relatively long time to first reproduction (>2 years old for both sexes; see below), difficulty finding mates in low-density populations, and high kit mortality may all contribute to generally low reproductive output for wolverines calculated the average lifetime production of a female wolverine to be only two female offspring.Successful reproduction probably depends strongly on food supply.

As many as 5 kits may be born, but typically only 2-3 survive long enough to exit the maternal den. Newborns are altricial and covered with a fine white fur. Kits are weaned at 9-10 weeks, and are adult size at 7 months. Young disperse from their natal ranges as early as January or as late as May .Rising spring temperatures may be a cue for female wolverines to relocate kits from the natal den to the maternal den. Wolverines in Idaho moved their kits when they were as young as 13 days, and often moved kits more than 3 times before they were weaned.