It's that time of year again: time for March Mammal Madness!
For the uninitiated, March Mammal Madness (or MMM) is a fun fake hypothetical 'battle' between different species of animals, alive or extinct, using a sports-style bracket to guess or predict who you think will win. Then a team of biologists go onto Twitter and (having done their research beforehand and ranked/seed each animal from 1 to 16) 'live' tweet the battles and the final results using the hashtag #2018MMM.
Each hypothetical battle involves guessing what two animals would do if they met face-to-face: would one run away, or one hiss and try to make itself look scary, or yawn and not really care? Whoever quits the field of battle loses, whether they fought the opponent or not. Just look at the pairs of animals in the bracket for Round 1, pick who you think would win out of each pair, and then compare those pairs of winners in Round 2, and pick who would win, and so on until you decide who will win overall (Katie Hinde, who created MMM, has a detailed outline of exactly of the competition works here). In early rounds, the place of battle is in the higher seeded animal's habitat, giving them the home-ground advantage. But be cautious: a higher seeded animal won't always beat a lower seeded animal, because who knows what interesting behaviour or outside event will cause an upset!
The point of MMM is to discuss cool and interesting aspects of mammal biology and behaviour, all the while cheering for your favourite animal to win!
I'm filling out my bracket now, and I'm excited that there is an extinct mammal division this year, called the 'Antecessors'. Here's a brief run-down of the first four pairs in this division and who I'm picking to win Round 1. Check out my second post to see my picks for the rest of the Antecessor division.
Each hypothetical battle involves guessing what two animals would do if they met face-to-face: would one run away, or one hiss and try to make itself look scary, or yawn and not really care? Whoever quits the field of battle loses, whether they fought the opponent or not. Just look at the pairs of animals in the bracket for Round 1, pick who you think would win out of each pair, and then compare those pairs of winners in Round 2, and pick who would win, and so on until you decide who will win overall (Katie Hinde, who created MMM, has a detailed outline of exactly of the competition works here). In early rounds, the place of battle is in the higher seeded animal's habitat, giving them the home-ground advantage. But be cautious: a higher seeded animal won't always beat a lower seeded animal, because who knows what interesting behaviour or outside event will cause an upset!
The point of MMM is to discuss cool and interesting aspects of mammal biology and behaviour, all the while cheering for your favourite animal to win!
I'm filling out my bracket now, and I'm excited that there is an extinct mammal division this year, called the 'Antecessors'. Here's a brief run-down of the first four pairs in this division and who I'm picking to win Round 1. Check out my second post to see my picks for the rest of the Antecessor division.
Doedicurus vs. Jugulator
Right image by Pavel Riha. Left image (of a mammal similar to Jugulator) from Wikimedia Commons.
Doedicurus was a Pleistocene-Holocene glyptodont, a large armadillo-like mammal with an armoured body and a spiky tail club. They were around 4 metres long and could weigh up to 2,370 kg!
Jugulator (not to be confused with the Judas Priest album of the same name) was a predatorial, possibly gliding, early mammal species that lived during the Cretaceous. Although the thought of a predator gliding through the air to pounce on its prey might sound terrifying, it probably only weighed around 750 grams (which is actually huge for an early mammal).
I think Doedicurus's size and armour will (obviously) help it win the day. Although, MMM is known to have upsets where unlikely contestants win...
Jugulator (not to be confused with the Judas Priest album of the same name) was a predatorial, possibly gliding, early mammal species that lived during the Cretaceous. Although the thought of a predator gliding through the air to pounce on its prey might sound terrifying, it probably only weighed around 750 grams (which is actually huge for an early mammal).
I think Doedicurus's size and armour will (obviously) help it win the day. Although, MMM is known to have upsets where unlikely contestants win...
Cynognathus vs. Thalassocnus
Left image by Nobu Tamura. Right image by Wiki user FunkMonk.
Cynognathus was a predatory therapsid (the ancient mammal lineage we're a part of) from the Middle Triassic. It was around 1.2 m long with a large head full of sharp teeth including two large canines.
Thalassocnus, on the other hand, was a semi-aquatic, if not fully aquatic, giant marine sloth from the Miocene-Pliocene. It was approximately 2 m long, and although it could walk on land, had dense bones adapted to life in the ocean eating seaweeds.
Thalassocnus may be at a disadvantage battling the wolf-like Cynognathus in the deserts and swamps of Triassic Africa, but with its strong forearms and claws, I think it can defend itself and might just win.
Thalassocnus, on the other hand, was a semi-aquatic, if not fully aquatic, giant marine sloth from the Miocene-Pliocene. It was approximately 2 m long, and although it could walk on land, had dense bones adapted to life in the ocean eating seaweeds.
Thalassocnus may be at a disadvantage battling the wolf-like Cynognathus in the deserts and swamps of Triassic Africa, but with its strong forearms and claws, I think it can defend itself and might just win.
Thylacoleo vs. Procoptodon
Left image by Mauricio Antón. Right image by Nobu Tamura.
The Aussies are here! First up: Thylacoleo, the Pleistocene 'marsupial lion'. It had blade-like cheek teeth, a sharp thumb claw, and although it could run on land it probably didn't move very fast. They were around 1.5 m long and weighed on average around 130 kg. The diet of Thylacoleo has been the subject of much debate in the palaeontological community: some proposed that their specialised cheek teeth were used to slice vegetation, but it is more likely they used them to break bones of the prey they hunted or scavenged.
Procoptodon was a giant short-faced kangaroo that also lived during the Pleistocene in Australia. They stood between 1-2 m tall (depending on the species) and the largest weighed around 200 kg. Although they may have hopped (as you might expect based on how modern kangaroos move), some new research suggests that they instead walked like other bipedal animals (including humans) do!
If we assume that Thylacoleo was a predator, its sharp teeth and claws could have made quick work of a Procoptodon. Given that they both lived during the Pleistocene and would have encountered each other in the wild, it is possible that Thylacoleo was a specialised hunter of Procoptodon and other large marsupials. Procoptodon could have made a speedy getaway, but only if it could hop instead of walking or running. Hmm... I think I'll choose Thylacoleo to win, but I won't be terribly surprised if this turns out to be an upset.
Procoptodon was a giant short-faced kangaroo that also lived during the Pleistocene in Australia. They stood between 1-2 m tall (depending on the species) and the largest weighed around 200 kg. Although they may have hopped (as you might expect based on how modern kangaroos move), some new research suggests that they instead walked like other bipedal animals (including humans) do!
If we assume that Thylacoleo was a predator, its sharp teeth and claws could have made quick work of a Procoptodon. Given that they both lived during the Pleistocene and would have encountered each other in the wild, it is possible that Thylacoleo was a specialised hunter of Procoptodon and other large marsupials. Procoptodon could have made a speedy getaway, but only if it could hop instead of walking or running. Hmm... I think I'll choose Thylacoleo to win, but I won't be terribly surprised if this turns out to be an upset.
Andrewsarchus vs. Nuralagus rex
Left image by Dimitri Bogdanov. Right image by Meike Köhler.
Andrewsarchus was a large, ferocious looking carnivore (or possibly a scavenging omnivore) from the Eocene of Mongolia. With a skull over 80 cm long, and a predicted overall length of 5 metres, it may have been the largest mammalian land predator to have ever lived. Its skull was actually thinner toward the nose and weaker than it might look from restorations. If it did hunt prey, they were probably smaller than itself.
Nuralagus rex was also a giant! But only when compared to modern rabbits and pikas. Like Procoptodon, and unlike modern rabbits, the stiff-backed Nuralagus likely couldn't hop. Coupled with small eyes and ears, it probably couldn't detect or flee from predators very well. Perhaps it didn't need to, as it lived on the island of Menorca during the Miocene that was devoid of large predators.
I feel like this is obvious, but I'm choosing Andrewsarchus to win not only because of its shear size and comparitive power, but also because the isolated island species Nuralagus rex didn't evolve any defence mechanisms against predators.
Nuralagus rex was also a giant! But only when compared to modern rabbits and pikas. Like Procoptodon, and unlike modern rabbits, the stiff-backed Nuralagus likely couldn't hop. Coupled with small eyes and ears, it probably couldn't detect or flee from predators very well. Perhaps it didn't need to, as it lived on the island of Menorca during the Miocene that was devoid of large predators.
I feel like this is obvious, but I'm choosing Andrewsarchus to win not only because of its shear size and comparitive power, but also because the isolated island species Nuralagus rex didn't evolve any defence mechanisms against predators.
And those are my first four picks for the eight Antecessor division Round 1 battles! Phew! Check out my next post for the second four picks.
