by Stefani Andrews

Created on: June 08, 2011   Last Updated: June 09, 2011

The scientific name for the Wolverine is Gulo gulo, which means glutton in Latin. This could be a fairly accurate representation of their aggressive behavior, particularly when defending food. But while the animal's Latin name indicates that it is a voracious hunter that will eat anything in sight, that could be in part due to bad translation from the animal's Old Swedish name of fjellfras which means "mountain cat", but when this was translated to German is became translated as "devours much". Though the wolverine is not an animal that will back down from it's meal easily and will engage in fights with predators several times their size in order to keep what is rightfully theirs to eat. They have a huge reputation for their ferocity and ability to kill animals many times larger.

Wolverines are in the same family as weasels and share many of the same physical characteristics as other members of the family. It is the largest land dwelling mammal in the Mustelidae family, and has the stocky build to prove it. The wolverine is primarily found in very remote forests in the very north reaches of Canada, Alaska, north Europe, as well as Russia and Siberia. While they are currently not considered threatened or in danger of extinction, there can be no denying that numbers of wild wolverines have declined rapidly in the last century because of trapping and human encroachment on their habitat. The most noticable decline is in the European range of their habitat where it can almost never be found but the wolverine's numbers seem to be stable in North America and the north of Asia. While the wolverine is in the same family as weasels there is some genetic evidence that they are most closely related to the tayra and martens because of a common Asian ancestor.

Physically the wolverine has short legs, a broad head, and has a stocky and muscular build. In fact, more than any other mammals of its family it resembles a bear with its short, rounded ears. Even though its legs are short, its paws and low to the ground posture allow it to move easily through even the heaviest snow; which is useful since it is found in some of the snowiest areas of the world. The average wolverine is about the size of a medium sized dog, being about 24 inches long and weighing around 40 pounds. The males are typically larger, reaching about 34 inches long and around 50 to 60 pounds. On the average, male wolverines are around 30% larger than their female counterparts. Their fur is very thick and oily

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