946 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



subfamily, characterized by having partly retractile claws 

 suited, not for digging, but for climbing. They are stout, 

 bear-like animals with bushy tails, hairy soles, short ears, and 

 4 extra premolars. The teeth are: 



T 3-3 i~i 4-4 I i-i O 

 Inc. ^^-^; can. ; prem. ; mol. = 38 



3-3 I -I 4-4 2-2 



In addition to these characters the Wolverine has: 

 SIZE Length, about 36 inches (915 mm.); tail, 6 inches (152 



mm.); hind-foot, 7 inches (178 mm.); height at shoulder, 12 

 inches (305 mm.). 

 WEIGHT George Cartwright gave' the weight of a specimen as 26 



pounds. 

 COLOUR General colour a deep blackish-brown, paler and grayer 



on crown and cheeks; a band of pale chestnut begins on each 

 shoulder and passes backwards along the sides to meet its 

 fellow on the tail; these become nearly white on the rump in 

 some specimens; the throat and chest are more or less spotted 

 with yellowish-white, which sometimes forms a large irregular 

 patch; claws, whitish horn-colour. 

 Sexes alike. 



Quite recently (1903 and 1905) D. G. Elliot has described 

 two new forms of Wolverine, as follows: 



luteus Elliot, is distinguished by the buff colour of 



its upper parts. California. 

 hylceus Elliot, is very dark in colour, without buff or 



gray; has auditory bullae very large. Alaska. 



Life-history. 



RANGE Wolverines are found in boreal Asia, Europe, and 



America. In the last the southern limits are shown on the 

 map. 



'Sixteen Years in Labrador, 1792, Vol. II, p. 407. 



