Wolverine
Gulo gulo
Trevor Fink
Classification
Domain - Eukarya: Eukarya is one of three domains. It holds
all organisms that have cells containing a true nucleus.
Kingdom - Animalia: All members of Animalia are multicellular
and are heterotrophs.
Other distinguishing characteristics that most members of Animalia do
include: movement, sexual reproduction, and ingestion/digestion.
Phylum - Chordata: A distinguishing characteristic of Chordata
is a rod called the notochord.
The notochord runs the length of
the animal and helps in stabilizing the animal while it's on the
move. Chordata can also be classified with its posterior tail
extending past the anus and with its separated muscles.
Class - Mammalia: All members of Mammalia distinguish themselves
from other animals because they all have hair and have mammary
glands (which produce milk). Mammals also use a lot of energy to
care for their young.
Order - Carnivora: The order Carnivora is composed of
carnivores, which eat meat like the grey
wolf and coyote. Most Carnivora have large, sharp looking
teeth that is the tell-tale sign of this order.
Family - Mustelidae: Mustelidae composes the largest
family in the Carnivora order. Other members of Mustelidae
include otters, weasels,
martens and
badgers. All Mustelidae have thick fur coats, a slender
body, and anal scent glands.
This phylogeny above was created based on the site at this link CLICK
HERE. The phylogeny is based on physical characteristics, so
it's a morphological phylogeny. You may notice that the species
named in this phylogeny are carnivores with thick fur coats and
slender bodies, and all are in the same family.
Genus - Gulo: Gulo is a genus of Mustelidae.
Another member of this genus is the skunk bear.
Species - Gulo gulo: The wolverine is noted for its ferocity
.Along with that, a thick fur coat and a set of very sharp teeth. Its
jaws can even crush through bone. The wolverine is large for being in
the Mustelidea family, but it's small enough to not have the burden of
eating constantly. Ironically, Gulo gulo translates to
mean "glutton."
This phylogeny was retrieved from a site at this link CLICK
HERE. This phylogeny is focused on the wolverine's evolution from
the Carnivora order. This phylogenetic tree emphasizes that the family
wolverines are in is closely related to two other families that are more
familiar to us: felines and canines. Wolverines would branch off of
Mustelidae if they were in this phylogeny.
To find out where the wolverine lives, go to
Habitat
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