Thread by @Mammals_Suck

Next Up: #6 seed Eurasian Eagle Owl vs. #11 seed Beaded Lizard! #2018MMM

But first a quick PSA: Anaconda ADVANCES
(and gets the point if you are keeping score)...
while Tardigrade #AltAdvances!
WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!?!
Find out in ROUND 2!
#2018MMM

Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) is a widely distributed avian predator that does well in diverse habitats across Eurasia with subspecies stretching from Scandanavia to Siberia, into the steppes of Central Asia, & down into the middle East & into North Africa #2018MMM

Eurasian Eagle Owls prefer to dine on mammal, one study in the Italian Alps found that a majority of its diet consisted of just three species: #SewerRat #EuropeanHedgehog & #EdibleDormouse Marchesi et al. 2002 #2018MMM researchgate.net/profile/Fabriz…

At their most impressive, the Eurasian Eagle tips the scales at 10lbs with a 6.5 foot wingspan, tied with Blakiston's Fish Owl for HEAVIEST & MIGHTIEST-WINGED OWL alive today. (The Great Gray Owl is the longest) #2018MMM

The Mexican Beaded Lizard, Heloderma horridum, are "stout-bodied venomous lizards w/ large, powerful jaw muscles" (Beck & Lowe 1991) & "members of an ancient clade, the MONSTERSAURIA" (Beck 2005) #2018MMM

Beaded lizards get their species name 'horridum' for 'the horrible one' while their North of the Border relative, @gilamonsterasu, is H. suspectum (the suspect) -Beck 2005 #2018MMM #AltFactGif

Heloderma spp are venomous, a crucial anti-predator defense! When Heloderma bite down & hang on to something attempting to make them a meal, venom runs along tooth grooves to bathe the mauled flesh -Beck 2005 #2018MMM

As Heloderma venom penetrates the blood stream, a predator experiences agonizing pain, weakness, & plummeting blood pressure. Some venom constituents possibly suppress appetite & enhance memory, ensuring predators who manage to survive learn their lesson -Beck 2005 #2018MMM

In a more "blue" interview about the painful bite of Heloderma, check out research @gilamonsterasu @ASU by Dale DeNardo, @sexchrlab, & colleagues in essay by @EdYong209 theatlantic.com/science/archiv… #2018MMM

Desert dwellers, H. horridum prefer to feast on eggs & nestlings and are active only a few days a month. They need warmer ambient temperatures to get grooving through the sand (note pic is of H. suspectum @gilamonsterasu) #2018MMM

Tonight's battle takes place in the "Al Yarmouk Valley, 3km SW of Jel'een in the governate of Dar'aa, Syria" (#1 on this map near the border with Jordan) (Shehab & Johnson, 2009) #2018MMM

In March 2011, during the Arab Spring, clashes between the Syrian army & protesters in Dar'aa escalated conflict that sparked the Syrian Civil War. Today over half of the city is in ruins #https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Daraa & syriadirect.org/news/the-state… #2018MMM

Loving families & vibrant communities are displaced, devastated, & destroyed by war.

And not only humans pay the terrible costs of human conflict. #WarfareEcology academic.oup.com/bioscience/art… #2018MMM

Past dusk in Southern Syria, H. horridum is soaking up the last of the heat radiating from from sand & rock, scattered pockets amongst the once vibrant agricultural fields. #2018MMM

Knowing that the temperatures will drop further as the night progresses, H. horridum, as a good climber, is able to leverage into a small cliff cave.

But the lizard finds it's already occupied... #2018MMM

By Eurasian Eagle Owlets! #2018MMM

Born in mid-February, these owlets are growing fast and beginning to move about adjacent to the nest awaiting food delivery #ParentalProvisioning. Penteriani et al. 2005 avibirds.com/pdf/o/oehoe10.… #2018MMM

Although these owlets are appreciably bigger than the nestlings H. horridum usually tackles, his nearly 9lb body mass is still much bigger than these baby birds (Beck & Lowe 1991) #2018MMM

Arriving with a rodent for her young, Eagle Owl spots their possible doom, & dives down on H. horridum with sharp talons impaling about his pelvis and gut!!! #2018MMM

In species typical H. horridum aggressive move, the lizard wraps his partially grasping tail around the owl's leg to get leverage to arch back to land a defensive bite to owl's torso! #2018MMM

TOO LATE! As lizard torpidly twists, owl's beak pierces into his chest! #2018MMM

EURASIAN EAGLE OWL PERFORATES BEADED LIZARD!!!! #2018MMM