psy: Wolverine

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

The wolverine ( WUUL-və-reen, US also WUUL-və-REEN; Gulo gulo), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, kwiihkwahaacheew), is the largest land-dwelling member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The wolverine has a reputation for ferocity and strength out of proportion to its size, with the documented ability to kill prey many times larger than itself. The wolverine is found primarily in remote reaches of the northern boreal forests and subarctic and alpine tundra of the Northern Hemisphere, with the greatest numbers in Northern Canada, the U.S. state of Alaska, the mainland Nordic countries of Europe, and throughout western Russia and…

Evidence: 53 • authority: 72

Evidence: 53 • authority: 80

Phylogenetic relationship of Wolverine <i>Gulo gulo</i> in Mustelidae revealed by complete mitochondrial genome

Evidence: 53 • authority: 88

Diversity of the MHC class II DRB gene in the wolverine (Carnivora: Mustelidae: Gulo gulo) in Finland. The wolverine ( Gulo gulo ) in Finland has undergone significant population declines in the past. Since major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes encode proteins involved in pathogen recognition, the diversity of these genes provides insights into the immunological fitness of regional populations. We sequenced 862 amplicons (242 bp) of MHC class II DRB exon 2 from 32 Finnish wolverines and identified 11 functional alleles and three pseudogenes. A molecular phylogenetic analysis indicated trans-species polymorphism, and PAML and MEME analyses indicated positive selection, suggesting that…

Evidence: 53 • authority: 88

Wolverine from the Pleistocene of the Yukon: evolutionary trends and taxonomy of <i>Gulo</i> (Carnivora: Mustelidae). Dental and mandibular measurements on a sample of Gulo gulo of possible Sangamonian to Wisconsinan age from the Old Crow Basin in the Yukon average 2.7% smaller than comparable measurements of the extant form. The difference in the width of P 4 is statistically significant. These results do not differ significantly from Harington's previous analysis of a similar sample from Old Crow, and comparable data from the two studies were pooled. Dimensions in the pooled fossil sample average 4.3% smaller; differences in the length and width of both P 4 and M 1 , and the length of the…

Evidence: 37 • authority: 92

Tissue Distribution and Toxicological Risk Assessment of Mercury and Other Elements in Northern Populations of Wolverine (Gulo gulo).. Wolverines are facultative scavengers that feed near the top of terrestrial food chains. We characterized concentrations of mercury and other trace elements in tissues of wolverine from a broad geographic area, representing much of their contemporary distribution in northwestern North America. We obtained tissues from 504 wolverines, from which mercury was measured on muscle (n = 448), kidney (n = 222), liver (n = 148), hair (n = 130), and brain (n = 52). In addition, methylmercury, seven trace elements (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, lead, nickel, sele…

Evidence: 37 • authority: 92