Thread by @PKurnath

Next up from the Great Adaptations division, #1 seed Pygmy Hippo vs #4 seed Tasmanian Devil! #2018MMM

This battle brought to you by @c_n_anderson, I'm just sharing the story tonight! #2018MM

The pygmy hippo is herbivorous, feeding on fruits, grasses and ferns - it's large canines are used for aggresive displays, not hunting #2018MMM arkive.org/pygmy-hippopot…

During the last battle, we heard that hippos are foregut fermenters. Let's look at what happens after fermentation: #2018MMM #gross

Hippo dung can form an important nutrient source for river ecosystems esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.18… #2018MMM

Going up against the hippo is the Tasmanian Devil! #2018MMM arkive.org/tasmanian-devi…

The Tassie Devil is now only found on the island of Tasmania, but used to be found on the Australian mainland #2018MMM

Tassie devils have been extinct on the Australian mainland for just over 400 years. Many researchers attribute competition by the dingo as the cause of the extinction but Johnson & Wroe (2003) suggest that human impact also played a role #2018MMM journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.119…

We've discussed islands a few times thus far in MMM, but not yet how islands may influence life history evolution... #ReadyToLearn? #2018MMM

Species living on islands are often subject to lower predation pressure and thus live longer. This can lead to delayed investment in reproduction compared to mainland representatives. …lpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.111… #2018MMM

Tassie devil's global population has plummetted since 1996 - when the Devil Facial Tumor Disease was first described #2018MMM en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_fac…

Devil Facial Tumor Disease is a non-viral clonally transmissable cancer - it is spread when Tassie Devils bite each other - which they do often during social interaction and mating #2018MMM

Devil Facial Tumor disease has led to ~85% reduction in the global population of Tasmanian Devil since 1996. Global population estimates now number between 10,000-25,000 mature individuals & they are currently classified by the IUCN as endangered iucnredlist.org/details/40540/0 #2018MMM

Tassie devils now reproduce earlier in response to the spread of Devil Facial Tumor Disease. This adheres to life history theory expectations: low mortality=delayed reproduction; high mortality = early reproduction pnas.org/content/105/29… #2018MMM

For an absolutely delightful long-form #scicomm read on Tassie devils, see this Harper's magazine article by @DavidQuammen harpers.org/archive/2008/0… #2018MMM

Our battle begins on the banks of a river, where our pygmy hippo is grazing on a "hippo lawn" #iloveforegutsandicannotlie (that was me, not @c_n_anderson) #2018MMM

Our Tasmanian devil - ever the opportunistic scavenger - has found a rotting carcass of a duiker on the hippo lawn. LUNCH! The Tasmanian devil vocalizes upon the discovery! #2018MMM

Startled by the wail of the Tassie devil, our pygmy hippo yawns and head-shakes at the Tassie Devil #2018MMM arkive.org/pygmy-hippopot…

The timid Tassie devil high-tails it into the bush, fleeing the field of battle #2018MMM

PYGMY HIPPO DISPLACES TASMANIAN DEVIL!!!! #2018MMM