TONIGHT THE SWEET SIXTEEN, ALL DIVISIONS UNDER ONE ROOF! and for better-seeded species, their last assured evening of HOME HABITAT ADVANTAGE!!! #2025MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:01:01.879Z
Oh yeah… #2025MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:01:46.024Z
TONIGHT IS RATED C FOR CARNAGE!! #2025MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:02:45.991Z
First Up: 3rd seed Coati (Nasua narica) vs. 8th seed Gelada (Theropithecus gelada) #2025MMM
— Alyson Brokaw, PhD (@alybatgirl.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:04:08.677Z
When geladas yawn, they show off an impressive set of thick canines, accompanied by a loud yawning noise. That yawn noise is contagious between gelada individuals – just like yawns in humans (Pedruzzi et al 2024)! (are you yawning now?) #2025MMM
— Alyson Brokaw, PhD (@alybatgirl.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:04:32.486Z
#2025MMM #DivisionSameandDifferent #TeamGelada Art by Charon Henning @oddangel.bsky.social #mammals #sciart
— V Pellicer- looking for work! (@veppart.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:04:48.198Z
Baniel et al. (2021) found gelada gut microbiome composition covaried w/ rainfall & temp suggesting responses to dietary & thermoregulatory challenges. Ex: rainy season => cellulolytic/fermentative bacteria specializing in digesting grass #poopscience #2025MMM doi.org/10.1186/s401…
— Elinor Karlsson (@elinork.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:04:54.519Z
Coati are small. The dwarf coati of Cozumel island are tiny!! Half-sized coati, and genetically unique. Island life gave it its own evolutionary path. Now genetics can help conserve the population. #2025MMM link.springer.com/article/10.1…
— Elinor Karlsson (@elinork.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:05:55.874Z
Many mammals love to roll in smelly things, and coati are no exception. Captive coati have been known to rub lemons and other citrus on their fur, and free-ranged coatis have been caught anoiting themselves with 4-day-old tayra poop! (Fleming & Weldon 2021) #2025MMM
— Alyson Brokaw, PhD (@alybatgirl.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:05:36.157Z
#2025MMM #DivisionSameandDifferent #TeamCoati Art by Valeria Pellicer @veppart.bsky.social #mammals
— V Pellicer- looking for work! (@veppart.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:05:54.204Z
The afternoon sun filters through the Costa Rican forest as we find our Coati once again picking its way through the gnarled roots of a large fig tree #2025MMM
— Alyson Brokaw, PhD (@alybatgirl.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:07:14.649Z
Over in Ethiopia, our Gelada is pacing the edge of a large barley field. Agricultural expansion near protected areas has led to increased human-gelada conflicts (Yihune et al 2009). A pair of human guards watch the Gelada carefully, when suddenly the Gelada is magicked away. #2025MMM
— Alyson Brokaw, PhD (@alybatgirl.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:07:54.134Z
Used to a cooler, high elevation climate, the thick, humid Costa Rican air is uncomfortable for our Gelada. He carefully ambles into the shade of a nearby fig tree, close to where our Coati forages. #2025MMM
— Alyson Brokaw, PhD (@alybatgirl.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:08:19.498Z
As the Gelada picks through the limited grass offers of the tropical forest, an ocelot trots into view. Used to watching Ethiopian wolves hunt rodents in their midst (Venkataraman et al 2015), the Gelada ignores the small cat. #2025MMM
— Alyson Brokaw, PhD (@alybatgirl.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:08:57.102Z
The cat pauses, its elegant striped tail twitching as it lowers its body to the ground in a crouch. Turning, the Coati stares down the cat, nervously shuffling as it tries to back up and away from the predator. #2025MMM
— Alyson Brokaw, PhD (@alybatgirl.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:09:31.957Z
The ocelot launches forward. Limbs flail as the coati and ocelot roll and scramble across the dirt floor. youtube.com/clip/UgkxzC8… #2025MMM
— Alyson Brokaw, PhD (@alybatgirl.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:10:02.575Z
CRUNCH! Despite the Coati's large claws, the ocelot manages to land a killing bite to the back of the neck. #2025MMM
— Alyson Brokaw, PhD (@alybatgirl.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:10:40.387Z
Dragging the dead coati between its front legs, the ocelot waddles off with its prize (youtube.com/clip/Ugkx50L…). Gelada continues to pick through the grass, unimpressed #2025MMM
— Alyson Brokaw, PhD (@alybatgirl.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:11:03.754Z
GELADA OUTLIVES COATI!!! #2025MMM
— Alyson Brokaw, PhD (@alybatgirl.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:11:34.391Z
#2025MMM #Sweet16 #DivisionSameandDifferent #TeamGelada Art by Charon Henning @oddangel.bsky.social #mammals #sciart
— V Pellicer- looking for work! (@veppart.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:11:46.230Z
How did Coati get their stripes? Not yet known … but we know how another Carnivore loses them! 3 mutations in gene TAQPEP changes a cat from tabby striped to blotchy #RIP #2025MMM http://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/…
— Elinor Karlsson (@elinork.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:12:05.346Z
NEXT UP: #1-seed ADDAX (Addax nasomaculatus) VS. #4-seed CHACOAN PECCARY (Parachoerus [Catagonus] wagneri) #2025MMM
— Tara Chestnut, PhD (@tcastanea.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:14:00.305Z
CHACOAN PECCARY is vulnerable to the trifecta of rapid deforestation, competition with cattle, and pneumonia, which infants are particularly vulnerable to. The impenetrable nature of the Chaco thorn-scrub forests makes assessing population status difficult (Saldivar-Bellassai etal 2021) #2025MMM
— Tara Chestnut, PhD (@tcastanea.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:14:35.497Z
#2025MMM #DivisionOnlyOnes #TeamPeccary Art by Charon Henning @oddangel.bsky.social #mammals #sciart
— V Pellicer- looking for work! (@veppart.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:14:55.188Z
Mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences have revealed that the Chacoan and white-lipped peccary are more closely related to each other than the Collared peccary, but their divergence time and place (either N or S America) remains unclear! doi.org/10.1016/j.ym… #2025MMM
— Elinor Karlsson (@elinork.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:15:18.200Z
Mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences have revealed that the Chacoan and white-lipped peccary are more closely related to each other than the Collared peccary, but their divergence time and place (either N or S America) remains unclear! doi.org/10.1016/j.ym… #2025MMM
— Elinor Karlsson (@elinork.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:15:18.200Z
ADDAX was widespread and abundant across the dunes & gravel plains of the Sahara, but suffered catastrophic declines due to unsustainable hunting, habitat degradation, competition with domestic livestock, regional insecurity & impacts of oil exploration (GIlbert etal 2018) #2025MMM
— Tara Chestnut, PhD (@tcastanea.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:15:41.005Z
#2025MMM #DivisionOnlyOnes #TeamAddax Art by Valeria Pellicer @veppart.bsky.social #mammals
— V Pellicer- looking for work! (@veppart.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:16:01.744Z
The Addax is critically endangered today. DNA from museum specimens suggests its population began declining in the Late Pleistocene (~30K yrs. ago), long before the human disturbances of the last few centuries. #2025MMM http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/12…
— Elinor Karlsson (@elinork.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:16:04.927Z
Tonight, we find ADDAX in Djebil National Park, Tunisia, where it was reintroduced to a large fenced area of the park to exclude domestic livestock. The reintroduction made possible by zoos all over the world that are part of Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP) #2025MMM
— Tara Chestnut, PhD (@tcastanea.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:16:32.904Z
ADDAX is engaged in "high intensity resting" aka sleeping, in the prone position, head tucked against side with eyes closed (Packard etal 2014) #2025MMM jzar.org/jzar/article…
— Tara Chestnut, PhD (@tcastanea.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:17:06.899Z
MEANWHILE, at the Proyecto Taguá in the central Chaco of Paraguay, PECCARY is also in a large conservation enclosure. She is resting with her herd in the shade with her new infants! PECCARY leans back for a dust bath… when the #MMMPortal opens! (Yahnke etal 1997) #2025MMM
— Tara Chestnut, PhD (@tcastanea.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:17:39.505Z
ADDAX alerts immediately, he scrambles to stand, stomps his foot on the ground, and gives a loud BLEAT to get PECCARY'S attention (Packard etal 2014) #2025MMM
— Tara Chestnut, PhD (@tcastanea.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:18:11.405Z
PECCARY stands and stares, giving a "repetitive huff whoof". ADDAX assesses this potential threat by facing his opponent and scent marking (Packard etal 2014) #2025MMM
— Tara Chestnut, PhD (@tcastanea.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:18:42.199Z
Hold on, let's give ADDAX a few seconds… 21 seconds (plus or minus 13 seconds) as the LAW OF URINATION states, all mammals empty their bladders over the same amount of time!! Go on, see for yourself! #YoureWelcomeTeachers (Yang etal 2013) #2025MMM
— Tara Chestnut, PhD (@tcastanea.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:19:22.212Z
The strong aroma of dominant male ADDAX urine fills the air. PECCARY'S olfaction (sense of smell) is well developed and "scent alone causes alarm and fright" (Bissonette 1982) #2025MMM
— Tara Chestnut, PhD (@tcastanea.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:19:54.598Z
PECCARY flees with "mane & dorsal bristles fully erected, scent gland exposed". She bounds "with leaps in excess of 3m (10 ft) in length" to a patch of woody shrubs in search of her young, off the field of battle!!! Leaving ADDAX in the aroma of her musk (Bissonette 1982) #2025MMM
— Tara Chestnut, PhD (@tcastanea.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:20:24.799Z
ADDAX ELIMINATES PECCARY!!!!!! #2025MMM
— Tara Chestnut, PhD (@tcastanea.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:20:45.998Z
#2025MMM #Sweet16 #DivisionOnlyOnes #TeamAddax Art by Mary C Freisner @maryfreisner.bsky.social #mammals
— V Pellicer- looking for work! (@veppart.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:21:02.879Z
Captive pops of peccaries (Chacoan, white-lipped, collared) were established due to conservation threats. Nuclear markers show ⬇️ diversity and ⬆️ inbreeding in these pops, underscoring the importance of conservation management efforts in the species. #2025MMM #RIP pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC…
— Elinor Karlsson (@elinork.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:21:16.350Z
Next Up: 1st Seed Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus) vs. 3rd seed Sunda Colugo (Galeopterus variegatus) #2025MMM
— Marc Kissel (@marckissel.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:25:49.223Z
While they don't have many predators, sun bears are poached by humans, which makes it risky for them to use trails near agricultural lands (Guharajan et al 2018) #2025MMM
— Marc Kissel (@marckissel.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:26:17.310Z
#2025MMM #DivisionSameandDifferent #TeamSunBear Art by Olivia Pellicer @opellisms.bsky.social #mammals #sciart
— V Pellicer- looking for work! (@veppart.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:26:31.326Z
How did sun bear get that sunny chest patch? Still a mystery. But scientists recently discovered that a 1 base change in the gene TYRP1 can turn black bears brown. #2025MMM http://www.cell.com/current-biol…
— Elinor Karlsson (@elinork.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:26:39.527Z
Colugos can survive in fragmented landscapes, but their dwindling natural habitats need to be properly managed for the species to persist (Agoramoorthy et al 2006) and are at risk of vehicle collisions when they glide across roadways (Hui 2023) #2025MMM
— Marc Kissel (@marckissel.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:27:25.795Z
#2025MMM #DivisionSameandDifferent #TeamColugo Art by Mary C Freisner @maryfreisner.bsky.social #mammals
— V Pellicer- looking for work! (@veppart.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:27:43.303Z
Colugo has 28 pairs of chromosomes & ""painting"" shows 44 homologous segments w/human chromosomes. Comparing colugo, treeshrews & primates, Nie et al. (2008) found 1 interchromosomal rearrangement suggesting colugo was closer to treeshrews than primates#2025MMM http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/6/18
— Elinor Karlsson (@elinork.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:27:53.168Z
Sun bear lumbers in the forest arriving at a preferred fig tree, using his excellent climbing skills, sunbear hauls himself into the tree leaving conspicuous claw marks that scientists use to discern their presence in the ecosystem (Steinmetz & Garshelis 2008) #2025MMM
— Marc Kissel (@marckissel.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:28:45.543Z
Back in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Colugo is again camouflage clinging to a tree trunk having slipped away from macaques, when #MMMagic translocates her clinging in camouflage to Sun Bear's fig tree. #2025MMM
— Marc Kissel (@marckissel.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:29:36.150Z
Sun Bear has been resting with his belly on a tree branch, with his legs hanging down, but then uses his right paw to reach some figs, plopping them into his mouth. One name for him in Sumatra is 'Bagindo nan tinggih' (he who likes to sit high) (Meijaard 1998) #2025MMM
— Marc Kissel (@marckissel.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:30:33.783Z
Colugo sends an ultrasound calls to attempt to communicate with any nearby colugos… an ability discovered by researchers studying bats & bat ultrasound calls! (Miard, et al 2019)
— Marc Kissel (@marckissel.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:31:21.430Z
Sun Bear begins to climb down, only a few feet from Colugo! His ability to bend his foot back and put weight on outside of foot, plus a well developed tibialis cranialis, has made him one of the best climbers among the bears (Sasaki et al 2005) #2025MMM
— Marc Kissel (@marckissel.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:32:31.608Z
Sun Bear's climb steps with his back foot… digging claws into the tree trunk… ONE CLAW IMPALING Colugo's patagium to the tree trunk!!! #2025MMM
— Marc Kissel (@marckissel.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:33:11.259Z
Bear lifts his foot, freeing Colugo who starts falling…. #2025MMM
— Marc Kissel (@marckissel.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:34:43.628Z
Colugo releases the tree flailing, screaming, striking, STILL PINNED TO THE TREE BY BEAR CLAW THROUGH HER PATAGIUM!!! #2025MMM
— Marc Kissel (@marckissel.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:33:55.305Z
PFFFFT!!! Colugo deploys patagium in glide position!!! #2025MMM
— Marc Kissel (@marckissel.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:35:40.171Z
MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY!!! Colugo's air cushion is partially compromised by her torn patagium, letting air flow through her body parachute!! In turbulence and limited maneuverability, Colugo glide-careens through the canopy, small blood droplets splattering…. #2025MMM
— Marc Kissel (@marckissel.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:36:20.403Z
COLUGO MANAGES TO LAND IN A SOFT CUSHION OF TREE LEAVES AND SUPPLE BRANCHES… BEYOND THE FIELD OF BATTLE!!! #2025MMM
— Marc Kissel (@marckissel.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:36:55.204Z
SUNBEAR DEFEATS COLUGO!! #2025MMM
— Marc Kissel (@marckissel.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:37:06.178Z
#2025MMM #Sweet16 #DivisionSameandDifferent #TeamSunBear Art by Valeria Pellicer @veppart.bsky.social #mammals #sciart
— V Pellicer- looking for work! (@veppart.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:37:14.968Z
But wait! DNA evidence points to colugos as the sister species to primates! Janečka et al. analyzed 19 nuclear gene segments & found that treeshrews diverged first (~87.9 mya) followed by primates & colugos (~86.2 mya) during the Cretaceous! #2025MMM #RIPwww.science.org/doi/10.1126/…
— Elinor Karlsson (@elinork.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:37:39.173Z
Next Up: 1-seed Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) and Rhizzo (Rhizophagus aggregatum) vs. 5-seed Ringed Seal (Pusa hispida saimensis) #2025MMM
— Erin Rowland-Schaefer (@docrowschaef.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:42:22.302Z
Using models of future climate impacts, researchers anticipate that the current habitat for Ginkgo will shift in the coming years, and that areas in the southern edge of Ginkgo's range may experience significant habitat fragmentation (Xie et al., 2024) #2025MMM
— Erin Rowland-Schaefer (@docrowschaef.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:42:59.017Z
This increased fragmentation, or breaking up of habitat, means that it will be harder for Ginkgo trees to exchange genes in reproduction and may lead to the species becoming less diverse over time. #2025MMM
— Erin Rowland-Schaefer (@docrowschaef.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:43:21.202Z
#2025MMM #DivisionRootsandRelicts #TeamGinkgo Art by Mary C Freisner @maryfreisner.bsky.social #sciart
— V Pellicer- looking for work! (@veppart.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:43:40.988Z
Ginkgo is an economically valuable tree worldwide but cultivated trees have lower genetic diversity than wild trees. Hu et al 2023 genotype 102 cultivars and found that genetic diversity declined but started growing during the Sui and Tang dynasties ~1500 years ago doi.org/10.1093/hr/u… #2025MMM
— Elinor Karlsson (@elinork.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:43:50.590Z
In the 1980s, researchers determined that "approximately 70% of [Saimaa ringed seal] pups drowned each year after becoming entangled in gill nets," in Lake Saimaa, Finland (Bell et al., 2008). #2025MMM
— Erin Rowland-Schaefer (@docrowschaef.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:44:21.505Z
New regulations banned the use of these nets from April to June and have generally been successful in protecting these endangered seals. According to locals, the main threats to the Saimaa Ringed Seal are summer residents of the region, who sometimes violate regulations to catch large fish. #2025MMM
— Erin Rowland-Schaefer (@docrowschaef.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:44:44.405Z
#2025MMM #DivisionRootsandRelicts #TeamRingedSeal Art by Olivia Pellicer @opellisms.bsky.social #mammals
— V Pellicer- looking for work! (@veppart.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:45:16.573Z
Saimaa ringed seals are endangered with a population of ~400 individuals. Sundell et al 2022 found a high degree of inbreeding. Genetic diversity is alarmingly low and the high degree of isolation within the lake exposes the population to deleterious genomic effects doi.org/10.21203/rs…. #2025MMM
— Elinor Karlsson (@elinork.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:45:44.313Z
Ginkgo shifts slightly in a soft breeze on the mountainside broadleaf forest on Mt. Jinfo in SW China. Below ground, Rhizzo plays host to a number of microorganisms, including beneficial bacteria (endosymbionts). #2025MMM
— Erin Rowland-Schaefer (@docrowschaef.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:46:21.905Z
On the rocky shore of Lake Saimaa, Ringed Seal drags himself up out of the water – not onto ice, but onto land! Unlike other seals, who use ice for their spring moult, Saimaa Ringed Seals often return to the same place on land each year to shed their old fur (Biard et al., 2021) #2025MMM
— Erin Rowland-Schaefer (@docrowschaef.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:46:57.217Z
Using his front flippers to pull himself forward, Ringed Seal lumbers clumsily onto the rocky shore. While many other seal species haul out in large groups, Saimaa Ringed Seals are less social, and tend to haul out alone or in smaller groups (McLaren, 1954). #2025MMM
— Erin Rowland-Schaefer (@docrowschaef.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:47:35.196Z
Suddenly, Ringed Seal feels the texture of the ground shift beneath him. Instead of rough rock, he now feels soil, roots, and plant material! #MMMagic has translocated him to the Chinese mountainside forest, near where Ginkgo and Rhizzo stand together! #bestfriends #2025MMM
— Erin Rowland-Schaefer (@docrowschaef.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:47:57.606Z
While this environment isn't exactly completely foreign to Ringed Seal, he shifts around and notices that he is no longer near the large lake he calls home. His flippers scrape against the soil as he shifts against Ginkgo's trunk… #2025MMM
— Erin Rowland-Schaefer (@docrowschaef.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:48:23.999Z
Ahhhhhh… The rough texture of Ginkgo's bark feels AMAZING on Ringed Seal's moulting skin, scraping off fur and dead skin. #2025MMM
— Erin Rowland-Schaefer (@docrowschaef.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:49:05.916Z
SCRITCH SCRITCH SCRITCH- Ringed Seal rolls against the impervious Ginkgo. Ringed seal urinates, releasing nitrogen and other nutrients into the soil, and then galumphs down the hillside searching for freshwater… BEYOND THE FIELD OF BATTLE! #2025MMM
— Erin Rowland-Schaefer (@docrowschaef.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:49:33.474Z
Ginkgo and Rhizzo OUTLAST Ringed Seal! #2025MMM
— Erin Rowland-Schaefer (@docrowschaef.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:49:51.805Z
Persistent organic pollutants can accumulate in the blubber of arctic marine mammals. Brown et al 2017 assembled the transcriptome of ringed seal exposed to PCB and found five candidate genes that may serve as indicators of toxic exposure in other marine mammals #RIP #2025MMM doi.org/10.1016/j.aq…
— Elinor Karlsson (@elinork.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:50:18.910Z
#2025MMM #Sweet16 #DivisionRootsandRelicts #TeamGinkgo Art by Mary C Freisner @maryfreisner.bsky.social #sciart
— V Pellicer- looking for work! (@veppart.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:50:08.204Z
#InspirationalIntermission #2025MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:54:39.320Z
#InspirationalIntermission #2025MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T00:55:20.856Z
Christopher N Anderson 
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