Gulo

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Gulo
Temporal range: Pliocene – recent [1]
Wolverine 01.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Mustelidae
Subfamily: Guloninae
Genus: Gulo
Pallas, 1780
Type species
Gulo sibiricus [2]
Species

Gulo is a genus of carnivoran mammals in the family Mustelidae. It contains one extant species, the wolverine (G. gulo), as well as several extinct ones. Fossil evidence suggests that this genus appeared in North America and later spread to Eurasia during the Pliocene. Diagnostic traits include a strongly reduced P2, a robust P4 with three roots, and upper molars smaller than in other gulonines. Overall, the teeth are adapted for hypercarnivory. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 Samuels, Joshua X.; Bredehoeft, Keila E.; Wallace, Steven C. (2018). "A new species of Gulo from the Early Pliocene Gray Fossil Site (Eastern United States); rethinking the evolution of wolverines". PeerJ. 6: e4648. doi: 10.7717/peerj.4648 . ISSN   2167-8359. PMC   5910791 . PMID   29682423.
  2. Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.