A comparison of honey badger and wolverine, part 1

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The honey badger (Mellivora capensis https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/41834-Mellivora-capensis) and the wolverine (Gulo gulo https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/41852-Gulo-gulo) are mustelids (members of the weasel family, Mustelidae) with churlish public images and larger-than-life reputations.

Both species are relatively large-bodied for the family Mustelidae. These are stocky, masked, thick-skulled, vice-jawed, pugnacious, enterprising, restless, unsociable, part-climbing, trap-mangling, wide-roaming opportunists.

In this Post I reassess the similarities and differences between the honey badger and the wolverine - including distribution, habitat, colouration, defences, locomotion, dentition, diet, and intelligence.

In both species:

• 'bluff and tough' is used to intimidate carnivores much larger than their own body mass of about 10 kilograms;
• odours and dark/pale contrasting colouration warn predators of the defensive capabilities;
• males grow larger-bodied than females;
• breeding and growth are slow, with less than four being born at a time, 1-2 offspring being weaned every other year, and sexual maturity being reached at about two years; and
• lifespan is long (exceeding 15 years in both species) relative to other carnivores.

DISTRIBUTION and HABITAT

The honey badger occurs in Africa and southern Asia in cool to warm scrub, savanna, and woodland (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_badger#/media/File:Mellivora_capensis_distribution.png). It ranges from the edges of the Namib/Kalahari (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/92943815), Sahara, Arabian, and Karakum deserts to the rainforests of the Congo and the foothills of the Himalayas (https://www.wilkinsonsworld.com/2012/11/25/as-tough-as-a-honey-badger/).

The wolverine occurs in a distinct range across the vast tracts of conifers on permafrost in the far North (excluding Greenland, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverine#/media/File:Gulo_gulo_distribution.svg).

At their closest in central Asia, there is still a gap of thousands of kilometres on the Tibetan Plateau, penetrated by neither species.

The habitat of the honey badger is climatically and biotically different from that of the wolverine, as follows.

The honey badger inhabits that surface of the earth most crowded with dangerous mammals. Indeed, it is associated not as much with any particular climate as with a zone of extreme predatory intensity, namely those parts of Africa to southern Asia that support hyenas (https://www.honeybadgerbattle.com/hyenas-attack-honey-badger/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GehGAyNI0A and https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-spotted-hyena-crocuta-crocuta-eating-a-honey-badger-mombo-area-chiefs-11924909.html and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DQxL3JmoTI) and the lion (Panthera leo) - or did so until recently.

By contrast, the wolverine is high in the hierarchy of predatory mammals in its relatively sparsely-populated habitat. It is unusually small-bodied for a major mammalian predator.

Relative to the honey badger, the wolverine is associated with a climatic zone near the Arctic Circle that supports relatively few carnivores. It is only where the sea ice begins that the wolverine is replaced to the polar bear (Ursus maritimus), which is even larger than the brown bear (Ursus arctos) but eats mainly marine mammals such as seals and cetaceans.

COLOURATION and ANTI-PREDATOR DEFENCE

Both species are able, in parallel with skunks and polecats, to spray small quantities of odoriferous secretion from anal glands. This term may be warranted because, although the toxin is not injected, it has physiological effects beyond those of merely unpleasant odour.

This behaviour is poorly understood but seems to be part of anti-predator defence, in particularly stressful situations. The emissions seem somewhat repulsive to adversaries such as the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_hyena) in the case of the honey badger, and the brown and black (Ursus americanus) in the case of the wolverine - which challenge these large-bodied predators for possession of carcases.

The colouration of both species has a certain 'inversion' of patterns normal in animals, and this is relevant to anti-predator defence.

Plain-coloured animals usually blend into their background by means of countershading (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countershading), in which the ventral surfaces are pale to compensate for the darkness of shadows.

By contrast, in the honey badger and the wolverine it is the ventral surfaces that are darkest, using natural shading to increase the conspicuousness of the body (https://www.alamy.com/honey-badger-rattel-mellivora-capensis-looking-for-food-in-the-savanna-south-africa-mpumalanga-kruger-national-park-image255211397.html and http://www.barelyimaginedbeings.com/2012/11/badger-and-bird.html and https://www.flickr.com/photos/15016964@N02/5695813527 and https://www.flickr.com/photos/76392710@N04/36928614454 and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/104085476 and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/51971928 and https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-honey-badger-at-waterhole-26940263.html and https://www.alamy.com/honey-badger-or-ratel-hwange-national-park-zimbabwe-southern-africa-image4194930.html).

The whole bodies of both species are ominously dark below and pale above.

There is also a strikingly pale 'skullcap' above masked eyes, which is more individually variable in the wolverine than in the honey badger (https://www.petermather.com/WOLVERINE/i-VczMnGW/A and https://kateonconservation.com/2019/04/10/meet-the-honey-badger/ and https://www.flickr.com/photos/acinonyx1/48569016137 and https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-north-american-wolverine-gulo-gulo-luscus-adult-on-snow-canada-111489074.html and https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/49871/20220312/rare-wolverine-encounter-yellowstone-national-park-recorded-camera.htm and https://www.behance.net/gallery/29297243/WOLVERINE-JAERV-GULO).

The honey badger badger qualifies as aposematic in a strict sense, despite the absence of its distinctive pattern in a few individuals (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/102532973). The pattern is conspicuous at the scale of the whole body, functioning mainly for warning other species rather than for crypsis or social communication.

The crown and flank-band are not as pale in the wolverine as in the honey badger. However, the body of the Northern species is dark enough overall to be conspicuous in its snowy environment. This is an ominously incongruous with the various coexisting mammals and birds that turn white in winter (https://research.noaa.gov/article/ArtMID/587/ArticleID/2674/High-resolution-snow-projections-developed-to-inform-wolverine-conservation-in-the-Rockies and https://fineartamerica.com/featured/wolverine-on-snow-wade-aiken.html?product=greeting-card and https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-wolverine-gulo-gulo-in-winter-landscape-with-snow-falling-in-kuhmo-83017753.html).

A difference in how the two species advertise themselves in confrontation is partly hidden on the ventral surface of the body.

In common with several other mustelids and bears – but not the honey badger – the wolverine has an expletive pattern of individually variable, asymmetrical, pale patches on an otherwise dark throat and chest (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/92838185 and https://pixels.com/featured/4-front-view-of-wolverine-gulo-gulo-josh-miller-photography.html and https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-wolverine-standing-on-snow-in-woodland-wetlands-finland-85562971.html and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/93604845). It displays this by lifting its head, sitting up, or even standing bipedally (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/21388260 and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/3137034).

By contrast, the honey badger is reluctant to sit/stand upright (https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-honey-badger-mellivora-capensis-africa-arabia-79956138.html and https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-honey-badger-mellivora-capensis-africa-arabia-zoo-captive-102865734.html). Instead it reacts to intrusion by lowering its head and either advancing with a defiantly raised tail (https://www.allposters.com/-sp/Ratel-or-Honey-Badger-Posters_i13449119_.htm and https://www.allposters.com/-sp/Ratel-or-Honey-Badger-Posters_i13445457_.htm), or scuffling rapidly backwards in retreat.

Indeed, the honey badger possesses a caudal flag (https://latestsightings.com/single-post/antelope-sends-aggressive-honey-badger-flying-etosha-national-park). It erects the mainly dark tail in defiant display (https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-african-wild-dog-lycaon-pictus-pack-facing-off-with-two-honey-badgersmellivora-125377370.html), which is not noticeable in the wolverine.

The honey badger is also more audially demonstrative than is the wolverine. It may scream startlingly on first encounter. When antagonised, it growls, more deeply than expected for its body size. This habit is reflected in various onomatopoeic names including

• ratel (with a trilled ‘rr’ as in Spanish pronunciation) in Afrikaans,
• nkarungurungi in KiMaasai, and
• entahurra in Luganda.

Although the wolverine growls and hisses in annoyance like most carnivores, it lacks a corresponding reputation for guttural loudness.

The visual and vocal pronouncements of the honey badger reflect a confidence based on not as much on repulsive odour as on an unusual form of armour. Its skin is remarkably thick and flexible, looking tight but actually loosely attached to the body. It is capable of resisting bites, buckshots, and impalement. Furthermore, the extreme swivelling within its skin allows the honey badger to bite back at the very face of a large carnivore that attempts to grip its nape.

Please see https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/category/smithsonian-channel/honey-badger-vs-porcupine/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=859bUxNSI2I and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKOkZdbKdr8 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXivTFvOd4Q.

The skin of the wolverine seems unremarkable. Its fur differs from the short hairy coat of the honey badger, in featuring tapering guard-hairs particularly suited to shedding the ice formed by frigid condensation.

to be continued in https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/milewski/66985-a-comparison-of-honey-badger-and-wolverine-part-2/#...

Posted on June 8, 2022 06:51 PM by milewski