Are you ready? #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:01:54.119Z
It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights… youtu.be/EJ9yAV8uQ7g?… #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:02:33.735Z
Welcome to the 14th Annual March Mammal Madness! This year MMM Celebrates LIBRARIES in honor of 10 years since the launch of the LibGuide! libguides.asu.edu/MarchMammalM… #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:03:31.701Z
Tonight is the WILD CARD, the play-in to the big show, an amuse-bouche, or rather an amuse-esprit, for the discerning #2026MMM palate as we gear up for the tournament of tournaments! #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:05:05.448Z
But before we get to the "nature, red in tooth and claw" (Alfred Lord Tennyson's In Memoriam A. H. H., 1850) some important messages, announcements, pomp, & circumstance! (Also mentions of carnage do not constitute binding agreements) #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:05:34.764Z
Recent weeks, months, years have been full of challenges and heartbreak. For everyone. For all of you here tonight, we are so happy and thankful that you are joining us in this celebration of our natural world. #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:06:10.316Z
If you want JUST the official tournament tweets and not ALL the #FanBanter, follow @mmmletsgo.bsky.social helmed this year by @jesspopescu.bsky.social! Big Thanks to Emma for launching this concept on that other site, so many, many years ago! #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:07:06.447Z
All March Mammal Madness results will be available at the LibGuide in MMMAGAZINE, text (in English & Spanish), play-by-play, and VIDEO FORM in the minutes and hours after the events happen here libguides.asu.edu/MarchMammalM… #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:07:45.283Z
the Art TeaMMM and the Library TeaMMM have combined, LIKE TRANSFORMERS, to make The RUNDOWN videos for #2026MMM and can be found linked at the LibGuide or give them a follow here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlN2…
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:08:15.566Z
Alright, here is the point where I admit I am ALWAYS Alice in Wonderland's White Rabbit racing into the Wild Card and just recycling LAST YEAR's pomp and circumstance trying to catch all the #2025MMM hashtags and turn them into #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:09:08.118Z
Can we get an exuberant round of applause for @grumpator.bsky.social & everyone @ASULibraries for the March Mammal Madness LibGuide with Player, Learner, & Educator Portals! #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:09:52.766Z
And a big thank your to @nickleyw.bsky.social for his elegant design of the bracket (English, Spanish, & Large Format Versions) & @jeclight.bsky.social for the screen reader bracket! #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:10:33.851Z
Thank you to Oxford University Press for curating a special issue of #2026MMM combatants freely accessible to folks researching the contenders @academic.oup.com academic.oup.com/asm/pages/ma…
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:12:10.598Z
Shout out to educators @ianhecht.bsky.social for the trading cards, Mr. Jeff Brunstrum, poolsmmm.org, & @mmmbrackets.com for the online brackets & contest manager & ALL the EDUCATORS who shared 80+ resources in the CROWDSOURCED MMMaterials! docs.google.com/spreadsheets… #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:13:28.599Z
A round of applause for Education Engagement Coordinator Jenna Kissel & @loreleipatrick.bsky.social and the whole group of contributors to those sweet, sweet combatant info slides! #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:14:29.432Z
Huge thanks to Profs Miguel Rubio-Godoy and Alejandra Nuñez-de la Mora for translating Educator Materials into Spanish #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:15:13.365Z
Special shout out to the ART TEAM @opellisms.bsky.social @veppart.bsky.social @maryfreisner.bsky.social & Art Director @oddangel.bsky.social for their GORGEOUS AMAZING HUMAN CREATED ART!!!!! #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:16:31.467Z
Shout out to the incredible #2026MMM coverage from ASU with a focus on librarians & libraries news.asu.edu/20260220-art…
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:16:52.384Z
And @acstone.bsky.social & @cegamorim.bsky.social for bringing together an incredible team of geneticists to unlock the mysteries of the genome of the combatants in each battle! The science, it's so beautiful! #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:17:55.551Z
#2026MMM cont. Genetics Team: @afogel29.bsky.social @carloschalicothere.bsky.social @elinork.bsky.social@elliecat.bsky.social @fervillanea.bsky.social @lucasrocm.bsky.social @sexchrlab.bsky.social @n8upham.bsky.social
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:19:24.026Z
Real Talk: you hear from me A LOT, but March Mammal Madness is made possible by the most incredible teaMMM of the very awesomest people you will ever have the honor of knowing! #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:20:17.112Z
And March Mammal Madness would not be possible without the incredible achievements of scientists the world over, so many funded by those historical engines of excellence- the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:22:09.312Z
Even USAID that HAD BEEN the leading purchaser of food grown by American Farmers, helped support wildlife protection by investing in people, parks, & communities in the ecotourism sector. THESE ESSENTIAL USES OF THE PUBLIC ENDOWMENT HAVE BEEN AND ARE BEING DISMANTLED #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:23:12.013Z
And wars of greed, hate, & empire, cough, I mean current and expanding military conflicts, threaten people, wildlife, & landscapes in increasingly catastrophic ways. #2026MMM therevelator.org/war-harms-wi…
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:23:41.412Z
In coming weeks we will share in a journey across our world, & occasionally through time, in a celebration of animals, adaptations, ecosystems, and our coMMMunity #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:24:55.613Z
Time has NOT run out, & each of us can make an impact on recovering our ecosystems & reducing our use- through our time, through our effort, through our political engagement, through our thoughtful conversations with loved ones. #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:25:43.163Z
& importantly, remember, MMM features 65 species, but only one will be crowned THE FOURTEENTH CHAMPION #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:26:25.966Z
Prepare yourselves for anguish, anger, and amusement as fortunes fade & fates unfold, in a glorious story of science with cliffhangers, plot twists, non-player characters, and so much more! #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:27:03.446Z
Because here at #2026MMM Headquarters, points on a bracket are just a number, but if you're learning, you're winning!
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:27:55.766Z
Now, for the singing of the Animal Anthem, played annually for this Wild Card event since 2013… Three Dog Night with "Joy to the World" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as8K… #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:28:14.830Z
And WITHOUT FURTHER #2026MMM ADO… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6eQ…
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:28:33.783Z
FIRST & ONLY UP TONIGHT: Bone Collector Caterpillar (Hyposmocoma) vs. Assassin Bug (Acanthaspis petax) #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:32:22.184Z
Hailing from Hawaii, if you are just now learning about Bone Collector Caterpillar, that's because it was first described to science in late April 2025, literally in the journal SCIENCE! (Rubinoff et al. 2025) #2026MMM http://www.npr.org/2025/05/01/n…
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:33:39.033Z
Very hungry caterpillars are almost ALWAYS vegetarian… but not tonight's combatant! Out of ~200,000 butterfly & moth species, Bone Collector Caterpillar is one of the 0.2% that seeks MEAT. (Rubinoff et al. 2025). #AintNoHerbivore #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:34:03.334Z
But can we talk about that "Bone Collector Caterpillar" March Mammal Madness bump? #GoogleSearchTrends #DustsShouldersOff #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:35:25.768Z
#2026MMM #WildCard #TeamBoneCollectorCaterpillar Art by Mary C. Freisner @maryfreisner.bsky.social
— V Pellicer- looking for work! (@veppart.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:35:55.166Z
Bone collector caterpillar (Hyposmocoma) comes from one of Earsth's most diverse adaptive radiations with 350+ Hawaiian spp. Phylogenomics finds 9 major lineages. Yet this one is monotypic (no sister species), split from its carnivorous relatives >5M years ago. DOI: 10.1126/science.ads4243 #2026MMM
— Anne Stone (@acstone.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:35:57.978Z
And that Yahoo from O'ahu is taking on the better-known baddie ASSASSIN BUG! #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:37:20.554Z
With a preference for ants, the immature Assassin Bug wears the exoskeleton of its prey as a costume to defend itself against predatory jumping spiders… a tactic called CORPSE CAMOFLAGING (Jackson and Pollard 2007). #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:37:51.273Z
#2026MMM #WildCard #TeamAssassinBug Art by Mary C. Freisner @maryfreisner.bsky.social
— V Pellicer- looking for work! (@veppart.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:38:15.683Z
The subfamily Reduviinae (Assassin bugs) is a taxonomist's nightmare. A molecular phylogeny done by Hwang & Weirauch (2018) reveled it is polyphyletic, meaning the group doesn’t share a single recent ancestor. doi.org/10.1371/jour… #2026MMM
— Anne Stone (@acstone.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:38:21.729Z
And yes, we know what you're wondering… #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:40:09.454Z
BOTH of these combatants are in their MOST METAL MORPH in MARCH!!! (Rubinoff, personal communication; Brandt & Mahsberg 2002). #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:40:58.488Z
TONIGHT… on O'ahu, Bone Collector Caterpillar prowls the web of a spider, chewing through the silken web to reach the weakened, dying, & dead spider prey for an easy opportunistic meal (Rubinoff et al. 2025) #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:42:15.256Z
But Bone Collector Caterpillar lost the home habitat coin toss and #MMMagic translocates the Lepidopteran to Comoe´ National Park (CNP), Ivory Coast, West Africa #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:42:55.957Z
Bone Collector Caterpillar has been decorating its 5mm body with a hodgebodge of insect body parts… with an ant head and leg, fly wing, bark beetle abdomen, and weevil head, precisely sized, positioned, and woven to cover the caterpillar's body (Rubinoff et al. 2025) #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:44:47.957Z
From the darkness comes… the nymph ASSASSIN BUG… arrayed with an even greater corpse cape, the 4mm Assassin Bug has attached several ant corpses to its abdomen with "fine adhesive threads that the bug secretes from its abdomen" appearing much bigger! (Jackson and Pollard 2007). #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:45:38.892Z
The Bone Collector Caterpillar is drawn to the ant carcasses on Assassin Bug… another easy meal! #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:46:44.808Z
The Assassin Bug is drawn to the prominent ant head attached to the Caterpillar… ants are the most preferred meal! #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:47:15.591Z
The two CARCASS-COVERED insects collide andPHWOOOOT!!! #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:47:38.626Z
THE ASSASSIN BUG PLUNGES ITS ALMOST-INSTANTLY-PARALYZING-SALIVA-INJECTING-PROBOSCIS INTO THE ALREADY DEAD ANT HEAD… MISSING THE CATERPILLAR!!! (Brandt & Mahsberg 2002) #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:48:51.728Z
Side-stepping the NOT WEAKENED INSECT PREDATOR, Bone Collector Caterpillar wasn't counting on something putting up a fight!!! #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:50:23.043Z
PHWOOOOT!!! ASSASSIN BUG PLUNGES PROBOSCIS INTO THE CATERPILLAR…. #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:50:44.821Z
The injected enzymes from the Assassin Bug begin DISSOLVING the Caterpillar's insides to be slurped up…(Brandt & Mahsberg 2002) #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:51:16.765Z
leaving behind a new camouflaging caterpillar skin suit for the Assassin Bug to don! (Brandt & Mahsberg 2002) #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:51:53.399Z
ASSASSIN BUG DEFEATS BONE COLLECTOR CATERPILLAR and becomes the #16 seed of the THAT'S SO METAL DIVISION OF MARCH MAMMAL MADNESS!!! #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:53:03.515Z
Join us Wednesday for Round 1 of the Money Mammals Division! Until then be safe, be well, be active! #2026MMM
— Katie Hinde (@mammalssuck.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:53:37.266Z
#2026MMM #BoneyardDivision #TeamAssassinBug Art by Mary C. Freisner @maryfreisner.bsky.social
— V Pellicer- looking for work! (@veppart.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:53:55.614Z
Hawaiian Hyposmocoma caterpillars show near-identical “purse case” larval homes, despite evolving independently twice in rotting wood (NW islands ~15–9 Ma, main islands ~3 Ma). DNA phylogeny of 38 spp. reveals convergent design under similar pressures. doi.org/10.3897/zook… #2026MMM#RIP #2026MMM
— Anne Stone (@acstone.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:54:41.442Z
#2026MMM WILDCARD EMOJI BATTLE RESULTS 🦴🆚💉: 🦴👚🐜/💉👚🐜/🦴👀🐜/💉👀🐜/🦴💥💉/💉🗡️💀/💉🗡️🦴/💉🍽️🥣/🏆💉
— Jess Popescu (@jesspopescu.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:56:31.905Z
#2026MMM WILDCARD WINNER:Assassin Bug!Join us Wednesday, March 11th at 8PM EST for ROUND ONE of MONEY MAMMALS!
— March Mammal Madness (@mmmletsgo.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T00:55:50.822Z
Christopher N Anderson 
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