Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #StoatsAsmeasurement
Most recents (16)
UP NEXT: #1 seed Orinoco Crocodile vs #2 seed Amebelodon! #2018MMM
Tonight's battle also brought to you by @chumblebiome, @drew_lab, @MarkKissel, and @c_n_anderson. #2018MMM
Our fierce competitors tonight have crushed all that have dared stand before them in previous rounds. #2018MMM
And LAST but not LEAST of the #EliteTrait, we have #1 seeded Doedicurus clavicaudatus vs. #2 Amebelodon fricki!!! #2018MMM
Tonight's battle is a 3-way collaboration by me, @PKurnath & @tinkeringprim8, so hold on to your tush! #TeamAwesome #TeamDiscoveryChannel #2018MMM
Doedicurus a.k.a. #TankMammal has taken out the Jugulator, Thalassocnus catans, and Andrewsarchus mongoliensis, while Amebelodon a.k.a. "shovel-tusker" has defeated Deinogalerix koenigswald, Homo floresensis, and Dimetrodon limbatus #winning #taxonomicmouthful #2018MMM
NEXT UP: #1 seeded PYGMY HIPPO vs. #2 seeded CHEETAH! #2018MMM
(photo credit: #actuallivingscientist @AnneWHilborn, Dr. John Carroll (snr.unl.edu/aboutus/who/pe…), Dr. Hernandez (warnell.uga.edu/people/faculty…) & @conservationorg (pygmyhippo.uga.edu/index.html))
(photo credit: #actuallivingscientist @AnneWHilborn, Dr. John Carroll (snr.unl.edu/aboutus/who/pe…), Dr. Hernandez (warnell.uga.edu/people/faculty…) & @conservationorg (pygmyhippo.uga.edu/index.html))
Tonight's battle was a tag-team collab between @AnneWHilborn (Anne) and @am_anatiala (Asia)! #whapalabmates #2018MMM
ASIA: So, Anne, I wouldn't think that this 130lb/265 stoat-heavy fast cat would make it this far. Cheetahs aren't generally considered great fighters, right? *whispers* Unlike Kylo. #2018MMM #StoatsAsMeasurement
UP NEXT: #3 seed Berlin Boar (Sus scrofa) vs #7 seed Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) #2018MMM
The top-ranked competitor still has homefield advantage, so this Urban Jungle battle takes place in Berlin, Germany. Berlin Board & Porcupine don't have a lot in common; they last shared a common ancestor ~96 mya (timetree.org) #2018MMM
Did you know what "Porcupine" is Latin for "Quill Pig"? Follow #ActualLivingScientist @porcupinedoc for some more amazing porcupine facts #2018MMM
LAST BATTLE OF THE NIGHT! #3 seed Berlin Boar (Sus scrofa) vs #6 seed Bobcat (Lynx rufus) #2018MMM
Both of these urban competitors had an easy time of things in R1: Berlin Boar scared off an Eastern Grey Squirrel & Bobcat outwaited a Striped Skunk to advance #2018MMM
Less than two days ago, the hyena from the walled eastern Ethiopian city of Harar devoured the Belo Horizonte marmoset, & the Bristol fox scare off a raccoon from some choice eggshells. Now these carnivores will face each other! #2018MMM
The Harar hyena & Bristol fox diverged around 54 mya, near the beginning of the Eocene (timetree.org). The Earth was warming, the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere doubled, & Antarctica was nearly tropical 🌴 (researchgate.net/publication/23…). #2018MMM
NEXT UP: #4 Tasmanian Devil Vs. #5 Water Deer!!! #2018MMM
Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) devoured the ghost bat in the first round, while Water Deer (Hydropotes inermis) managed to scare away the solenodon (none of this was controversial at all amongst the fandom...) #truth #2018MMM
The T. Devil is 6-8kg (that's 27-36 stoats for those of you playing at home) and can catch mammals up to 30 kg. The Water Deer weighs in at 9-14 kg (40-63 stoats). #stoatsasmeasurement #2018MMM
NEXT UP: 8th seeded Bothrops asper (Terciopelo or Lancehead) vs. 9th seeded Theraphosa blondi (Goliath Tarantula or Goliath Bird-Eating Tarantula) #2018MMM
AKA, THE GREAT VENOM BATTLE OF 2018!! We've seen a lot of venom tonight. Who's ready for more?? #2018MMM
First, a brief review of venomous vs poisonous. Both competitors in this match-up are venomous #2018MMM
The croc & mantis diverged ~797 mya (timetree.org). Around this time the Earth went through an ice age that covered the entire world.
This might have led to the rise of algae due to glaciers grinding up stone into nutrients! #2018MMM cosmosmagazine.com/geoscience/how…
This might have led to the rise of algae due to glaciers grinding up stone into nutrients! #2018MMM cosmosmagazine.com/geoscience/how…
The praying mantis showed itself to be a stealthy predator of the bigger goldcrest in the wildcard battle (here's a play-by-play of that battle: wakelet.com/wake/45f524b8-…). #2018MMM
NEXT UP: 7th seeded Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) vs 10th seeded Delhi Rhesus (aka, Rhesus Monkey or Rhesus Macaque; Macaca mulatta) #2018MMM
Erethizon dorsatum are the 2nd largest rodents in North America (1st place goes to beavers), weighing anywhere between 5-14 kg (23-64 stoats #stoatsasmeasurement) #2018MMM
When we think porcupines, we think quills, right? Quills & spines have evolved multiple, independent times across the mammal tree of life as a defense strategy & are excellent examples of convergent #evolution (see the hedgehog battle) (animaldiversity.org/collections/sp…) #2018MMM
NEXT UP: 5th seeded Moscow Dog vs. 12th seeded Sewer Rat!! #2018MMM
Our top seed in this battle is the Moscow Dog (Canis familiaris), domesticated strays that have roamed the Russian city's streets for decades en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_do… (photo from Sputnik news, credit Mikhail Fomichev) #2018MMM
News stories have highlighted this canine's ability to live side-by-side Moscovites coercing handouts & some learning to ride the subway (the Conservation, theconversation.com/how-did-moscow…; the New Yorker, newyorker.com/culture/cultur…; the Financial Times, ft.com/content/628a85…) #2018MMM
NEXT UP: #4 seed Andrewsarchus mongoliensis vs #13 seed Nuralagus rex! #2018MMM
Not much is known about A. mongoliensis because the only evidence we have of their existence is one massive, 3-foot long skull with enormous teeth (see quoted tweet). We know that they lived in Inner Mongolia about 45 mya. #2018MMM
Here’s a picture of what A. mongoliensis might have looked like (credit: Bogdanov 2006) #2018MMM
Categorized as 'Least Concern' by @IUCNRedList, the S. American coati ranges broadly in forested habitats throughout....you guessed it: S. America. On the slopes of the Andes it can live at altitudes of up to 2500m (~8000ft), but is more commonly found in lowlands. #2018MMM
The coati's great adaptations include the long, flexible nose & strong claws it uses to forage on the forest floor, & the ringed tail it uses for balance when arboreal. The tail = about half its overall length of ~100cm (39.5in, or roughly 3 stoats). #stoatsasmeasurement #2018MMM
The coati's competitor tonight, the aye-aye, is......unusual looking. Due to its squirrel-like tail and continuously growing incisors, it was initially classified by naturalists as a rodent. #2018MMM
NEXT UP: #4 Tasmanian Devil vs. #13 Ghost Bast #2018MMM
The ghost bat (Macroderma gigas) gets its name from the Greek "macros"=large and "derma"=skin #2018MMM
Hopefully you didn't confuse our competitor with the south american bats of a similar name (genus Diclidurus, way more fuzzy) #2018MMM
NEXT UP: 6th seed Jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi) vs 11th seed Desman (Galemys pyrenaicus) #2018MMM
Wait, a who and a what? You know...jaguarundi...a New World cat that looks sort of like like a big weasel #2018MMM
Jaguarundi great adaptations include: long & slender body w/short legs, variable coat color, diurnal activity, habitat generalist, &, as a member of the Carnivora, #carnassials #2018MMM
NEXT UP: Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) vs Fat-tailed Dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata)! #2018MMM
Our battle takes place on the plains of the Serengeti, in Tanzania in East Africa. A mixture of open plains and woodlands, Serengeti National Park covers 15,000 km2, 5,700 square miles, or the area equivalent to millions of flatted stoats. #2018MMM #StoatsAsmeasurement
The Serengeti ecosystem is a stronghold for cheetahs in Tanzania, and @SerengetiCheeta has been monitoring them there since 1980. They estimate there are about 250-300 in the ecosystem, but that is a rough number since cheetah are hard to count. #2018MMM
