---
title: "What the sources say about the Wolverine | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "47 claims from the Wolverine profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/wolverine-1.webp"
canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/wolverine/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the Wolverine (*Gulo gulo*)

> 47 claims from the Wolverine profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Wolverine](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/wolverine/)

## Wolverine. Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wolverine.printerfriendly

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Opportunistic carnivore and scavenger | Wolverines are opportunistic; eating about anything they can find or kill. They are well adapted for scavenging. |
| mostly carrion from moose and caribou in winter | In the winter wolverines primarily rely on carrion, remains of moose and caribou killed by wolves and hunters or animals that have died of natural causes. |
| voles, squirrels, snowshoe hares and birds year round | Throughout the year, wolverines feed on small and medium-sized animals such as voles, squirrels, snowshoe hares, and birds |
| in the right situations, rarely a moose, Dall sheep or caribou | In the right situations, wolverines can kill moose, Dall sheep or caribou, but these occurrences are rare |
| a powerful jaw and large neck muscles that let it crush and use bones and frozen flesh | The wolverine has a powerful jaw and large neck muscles allowing it to crush and utilize bones and frozen flesh. |
| An adult male wolverine generally weighs 11 to 18 kilograms (24 to 40 pounds) and a female 6 to 12 kilograms (13 to 26 pounds) | Adult males are 30-40% heavier than females and generally weigh 24-40 pounds (11-18 kg) while adult females weigh 13-26 pounds (6-12 kg) |
| It is the largest land-dwelling member of the weasel family | The wolverine, a relative of the mink and weasel, is the largest terrestrial member of the family Mustelidae |
| Alaska's state wildlife agency has documented movements of 40 miles in a day | Movements of 40 miles in a day have been documented. |
| Few wild wolverines appear to live longer than 5 to 7 years, though some survive to 12 or 13 | It appears that few wolverines live longer than 5 to 7 years in the wild. Some, however, do survive to 12 or 13 years of age. |
| Wolverines have a fierce reputation, but Alaska's wildlife agency says it has often been exaggerated | Wolverines have great endurance, strength, and foraging behavior, but its fierce reputation has often been exaggerated. |
| contrary to stories, a wolverine will not attack a larger predator like a wolf or a bear, and avoids both, as an encounter with either may be fatal to the wolverine | Contrary to stories they will not attack a larger predator, like a wolf or a bear, and avoid these animals as encounters may be fatal to the wolverine. |
| Wolverines are opportunistic, eating about anything they can find or kill, from voles and squirrels to snowshoe hares and birds | Wolverines are opportunistic; eating about anything they can find or kill ... wolverines feed on small and medium-sized animals such as voles, squirrels, snowshoe hares, and birds |
| In winter they mainly rely on carrion: remains of moose and caribou killed by wolves and hunters, or animals that died of natural causes | In the winter wolverines primarily rely on carrion, remains of moose and caribou killed by wolves and hunters or animals that have died of natural causes. |
| Killing a moose or caribou is rare | In the right situations, wolverines can kill moose, Dall sheep or caribou, but these occurrences are rare. |
| Alaska's wildlife agency says a wolverine's powerful jaw and large neck muscles let it crush and use bones and frozen flesh | The wolverine has a powerful jaw and large neck muscles allowing it to crush and utilize bones and frozen flesh. |
| Alaska's state wildlife agency says that in the right situations wolverines can kill moose, Dall sheep or caribou, but these occurrences are rare. They have been known to take young Dall sheep in spring, when they are most vulnerable. | In the right situations, wolverines can kill moose, Dall sheep or caribou, but these occurrences are rare. They have been known to take the young Dall sheep in the spring when they are most vulnerable. |
| In Alaska, a resident male's home range runs from 200 to 260 square miles, and a resident female's can be as large as 115 square miles. Most males leave home at about a year old and can roam over thousands of square miles in the next 1 to 2 years before settling an area of their own. | In Alaska, resident male home range sizes are large ranging between 200-260 square miles. Resident females have home ranges as large as 115 square miles ... Most males leave their natal home range at about 1-years of age and can range over an area of thousands of square miles over the next 1-2 years before securing residency of an area. |

## Gulo gulo (wolverine). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Gulo_gulo/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Boreal zone of the far north, including alpine forests and tundra at or above the timberline, in Alaska, northern Canada, Scandinavia and Russia. | Wolverines are found in North America and northern Eurasia, in the boreal zone of the northern hemisphere ... Wolverines are found in Scandinavia and Russia ... In North America they are found in Alaska and northern Canada ... Wolverines are found in alpine forests, tundra, open grasslands, and boreal shrub transition zones at or above timberline |
| Wolverines live in the boreal, or far northern, zone of the northern hemisphere, from Alaska and northern Canada to Scandinavia and Russia | Wolverines are found in North America and northern Eurasia, in the boreal zone of the northern hemisphere ... Wolverines are found in Scandinavia and Russia ... In North America they are found in Alaska and northern Canada |
| On hard ground, hoofed animals can outrun a wolverine | On hard ground, ungulates can outrun wolverines. (note: ungulates explained as hoofed animals) |
| In snow, the wolverine is less likely to sink in | In snow, wolverines are less likely to sink in |
| large claws and padded feet let it chase down prey in deep snow | They have large claws with pads on the feet that allow them to chase down prey in deep snow. |
| It can bring down prey five times bigger than itself, but generally only when deep snow leaves that prey stranded | They are capable of bringing down prey that is five times bigger than themselves, but generally only under conditions that leave large ungulate prey stranded in deep snow. |
| Wolverines also spray their food caches with scent gland secretions to discourage other animals from raiding them | Wolverines also spray their food caches with scent gland secretions to discourage other animals from raiding them. |
| dangerLevel: Medium | Negative Impacts injures humans (note: can injure; ADFG says its fierce reputation has often been exaggerated, and it avoids larger predators) |
| tags: super-bite-force | a very powerful bite, with which they crush bone |
| it moves at a loping gallop | Wolverines are mainly terrestrial and move with a loping gallop. |
| sometimes covering 10 to 15 kilometres without a rest | Wolverines gallop with great endurance, sometimes moving 10 to 15 km without rest |

## Wolverine. National Wildlife Federation, Wildlife Guide.

https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Mammals/Wolverine

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| generally 33 to 44 inches long including that tail | is generally 33 to 44 inches long (including tail) |
| home ranges can vary from 100 to 600 square miles | Home ranges can vary from 100 to 600 square miles. |
| "Skunk bear" is one of the wolverine's many nicknames | Wolverines have a wide variety of nicknames ... nasty cat, and skunk bear. |
| like most mustelids it has scent glands with a strong odor, used for marking territory and sexual signaling | The wolverine, like most mustelids, has scent glands with a strong odor they use for marking territory and sexual signaling. |

## North American wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus). U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, FWS Focus.

https://www.fws.gov/species/north-american-wolverine-gulo-gulo-luscus

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| resembles a small bear with a bushy tail | It resembles a small bear with a bushy tail. |

## AnAge entry for Gulo gulo. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Build 15.

https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Gulo_gulo

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| the oldest captive wolverine on record reached 19.5 years | Maximum longevity 19.5 years (captivity) |

## Wysocki & Tseng (2018). Allometry predicts trabecular bone structural properties in the carnivoran jaw joint. PLOS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202824

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| jaw-joint bone was the stiffest and most crush-resistant | The greatest elastic modulus and greatest relative maximum compressive strength are displayed by Gulo gulo (wolverine) (note: stiffest = greatest elastic modulus; most crush-resistant = greatest relative maximum compressive strength) |
| 40 carnivores tested in a 2018 study | Through 3D model construction, 3D printing, and compression tests, morphological and mechanical performance measures were determined for the temporomandibular joint trabecular bone structure of 40 species representative of the phylogenetic and ecology diversity of Carnivora (note: 2018 is the paper's publication year (references list)) |
| Durophagous (bone-crushing) teeth | a species that wields durophagous dentition and is known to crush the bones of much larger species |
| the stiffest and most crush-resistant jaw-joint bone of 40 carnivores tested | The greatest elastic modulus and greatest relative maximum compressive strength are displayed by Gulo gulo (wolverine) (note: stiffest = greatest elastic modulus; the 40 species are claimed with the tagline and body) |
| A 2018 study 3D-printed models of the spongy bone inside the jaw joint of 40 carnivore species | Through 3D model construction, 3D printing, and compression tests, morphological and mechanical performance measures were determined for the temporomandibular joint trabecular bone structure of 40 species representative of the phylogenetic and ecology diversity of Carnivora (note: trabecular bone explained as spongy bone; temporomandibular joint = jaw joint; 2018 is the publication year) |
| one animal per species | (n = 1 individual per species) |
| squeezed each model in a testing machine | Trabecular bone structural properties were measured by applying compressive load to each 3D-printed cylinder sample with a universal material tester. |
| The wolverine's bone was the stiffest and had the greatest relative compressive strength | The greatest elastic modulus and greatest relative maximum compressive strength are displayed by Gulo gulo (wolverine) (note: elastic modulus explained as stiffness) |
| The study calls the wolverine durophagous, meaning it has teeth for crushing hard food, and notes it is known to crush the bones of much larger species | a species that wields durophagous dentition and is known to crush the bones of much larger species |

## Wood, Terwilliger & Copeland (2005). Volatile Compounds from Anal Glands of the Wolverine, Gulo gulo. Journal of Chemical Ecology.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-005-6080-9

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Chemists who analyzed anal gland secretions from six wolverines found the mix complex and variable, from 45 to 71 compounds per animal | The secretion composition was complex and variable for the six samples examined: 123 compounds were detected in total, with the number per animal ranging from 45 to 71 compounds. |
| with only six compounds common to every sample, including two forms of methylbutanoic acid | Only six compounds were common to all extracts: 3-methylbutanoic acid, 2-methylbutanoic acid |
| A 2005 study did not detect the highly odoriferous chemicals called thietanes and dithiolanes that turn up in the anal glands of some relatives, such as ferrets, mink, stoats and weasels. The wolverine's secretion was similar to those of the pine marten and the beech marten. | The highly odoriferous thietanes and dithiolanes found in anal gland secretions of some members of the Mustelinae [ferrets, mink, stoats, and weasels (Mustela spp.) and zorillas (Ictonyx spp.)] were not observed. The composition of the wolverine's anal gland secretion is similar to that of two other members of the Mustelinae, the pine and beech marten (Martes spp.). (note: 2005 is the paper's publication year) |

## Andrén (2025). Gulo gulo. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T9561A216872666.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2025-1.rlts.t9561a216872666.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). |