Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #tricksytaxonomy
Most recents (4)
UP NEXT: #1 seed Dugong vs #12 seed Egyptian Fruit Bat, featuring #TricksyTaxonomy tweets from @StoneLab_ASU and @sexchrlab! #2021MMM 
The Dugong has floated through the past two rounds, mostly busy making sure it gets its several hundred square meals a day. The Egyptian Fruit Bat (EFB) surprised everyone in an early upset before defeating the Solenodon in a well-timed figfall #FigGate #2021MMM
Taxonomic relationships within the fruit bats (Pteropodidae) are also tricksy but combining mtDNA & nuclear DNA shows that Egyptian fruit bat is closest to the Malagasy & Comoros fruit bats diverging from them ~2.3 MYA (Almeida et al 2016, bit.ly/FruitBatGen) #2021MMM
UP NEXT: #12 Egyptian Fruit Bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) vs #13 Solendon (Solenodon paradoxus) #2021MMM
In Round 1, our Solenodon avoided being a Civet treat while on holiday in Madagascar, while the Egyptian Fruit Bat (EFB) outlasted a socially-motivated Kinda Baboon #UpsetCity #2021MMM
NEXT UP: 5th seed Kinda Baboon (Papio kindae) vs 12th seed Egyptian Fruit Bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) #2021MMM
This battle was a team effort between the #2021MMM team's resident bat expert @alyb_batgirl and baboon expert @chumblebiome, with #TricksyTaxonomy info from @StoneLab_ASU!
5th seed Kinda Baboon (kin-duh, not kind-a) was only recognized as a distinct species from other baboons in 2013. Previously, it was thought they might be a subspecies of the yellow baboon. #2021MMM smithsonianmag.com/videos/categor…
NEXT UP: No.7 seed Tarsier (Tarsius syrichta) vs. No.10 seed Mara (Dolichotis patagonum). #2021MMM
Genetics & phylogeny content for this #TricksyTaxonomy bout is courtesy of @sexchrlab. #Teamwork #2021MMM
Though it may look to some like "someone put a kangaroo's head on a rabbit's body", the Patagonian Mara, aka the Patagonian Cavy, is neither lagomorph nor marsupial, but one of the world's largest living rodents. #MightyMara #2021MMM
