Thread by @PKurnath

NEXT UP we have #8 seeded Thalassocnus catans vs. #1 seeded Doedicurus clavicaudatus! #2018MMM

In round 1, Thalassocnus #MarineSloth munched on some sea grasses while Cynognathus #DinoDog got washed away with the #RIP tide #TeamMarineSloth eol.org/pages/4530087/… #2018MMM

And Doedicurus #TankMammal barely noticed the Jugulator hop-on and then hop-off its mighty armor that is characteristic of glyptodons eol.org/pages/4529496/… #EasyWin #ReadyToRumble #2018MMM

Quick recap of tonight's combatants: #MarineSloth from the mammalian order Pilosa (today's sloths) was "medium to gigantic in size " (de Muizon & McDonald 1995 nature.com/articles/37522…) and roamed Earth during the Pliocene (5.3 - 2.6 MYA) #2018MMM

#TankMammal from the mammalian order Cingulata (today's armadillos) weighed in at 2300kg, measured 1.5M tall, and roamed Earth during the Pleistocene (2.6 MY - 12,000 YA) #KnownYourCenes pasttime.org/the-timescale/ #2018MMM

Fossils of both ANTECESSORS have been found in present-day South America, which is also tonight's battle location #OhSnap #2018MMM

#MarineSloth is contently full after foraging for sea grass, and has come back to shore for resting & digesting #2018MMM

#TankMammal, also an herbivore, enters the scene looking for some food #2018MMM

#TankMammal catches sight of #MarineSloth and becomes threatened! Thalassocnus is similar in size to Smilodon (A.K.A. saber-toothed cat! Photo credit Ryan Somma commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?cu…), a common predator of glyptodonts during the late Pliestocene #2018MMM

While there is some debate regarding the use of #TankMammal's tail in self defense (Alexander et al. 1999 estimated that Doedicurus did not have the muscle or energy to use it as a weapon academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/art…)... #HoldMyBeverage #2018MMM

... other researchers applied the biomechanics of hitting a home run with a baseball bat to the spiky ends of glyptodont tails and found that large #TankMammals could pack a punch! (Blanco et al. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…) #2018MMM

#TankMammal charges at #MarineSloth! Today, nine-banded armadillos are known to show aggressive behaviors such as chasing after and even fighting each other (McDonough 1994 academic.oup.com/jmammal/articl…) #2018MMM

#MarineSloth is unsure how (and a bit slow) to respond to the attack #2018MMM

But did you know that today's three-toed sloths have ALSO been observed striking each other while vocalizing?!?! (Greene 1989 jstor.org/stable/2388289…) #2018MMM

#MarineSloth is feeling brave and raises one large, clawed appendage. This is a slow process, since #Marine Sloth has heavy, dense bones to lower the costs of buoyancy while foraging on the seafloor (Muizon et al 2003 tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.167…) #2018MMM

#MarineSloth is too slow and #TankMammal rams its mighty body armor into the exposed hind limbs of Thalassocnus, knocking the giant sloth down #2018MMM

#TankMammal feels a dull soreness in its bones after the impact, but #MarineSloth does not stand back up #2018MMM

DOEDICURUS DEFEATS THALASSOCNUS!!!! #2018MMM

FYI, here's a shot from the abstract that's worth a read...