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NEXT UP: #8 seed Flat-headed Cat (Prionailurus planiceps) versus #9 seed Water Chevrotain (Hyemoschus aquaticus) aka mouse deer #2019MMM 
Flat-headed cat occurs throughout the southern Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, & Borneo in low tropical forests (including oil palm plantations). They also occur in riparian habitats. animaldiversity.org/accounts/Prion… #2019MMM
Flat-headed cats are small, about the size of a domestic cat (1.5-2.75 kg), with a short stubby tail. Flat-headed cats can't retract their claws (neither can fishing cats or cheetahs!) (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002) #2019MMM
Flat headed cat skull is adapted for seizing slippery fish & crusteaceans. They are built to BITE HARD! Their skull features a well developed sagittal crest and robust zygomatic arches (Muul & Lim 1970) #2019MMM
In captivity, flat-headed cats provided mice were observed hunting them like raccoons, grabbing & washing them in a pool before killing them with a bite to the nape. (Leyhausen 1979) #2019MMM
The water chevrotain, "mouse deer" is an artiodactyl the size of a rabbit (7-15 kg)! Males have tusks for somewhat pathetically fighting each other, but females are bigger than males. Both sexes have sacral vertebrae that are fused to a butt carapace (Oh et al. 2017) #2019MMM
Water chevrotain lives in tropical regions of Africa in coastal regions from Sierra Leone to western Uganda. Strictly nocturnal, they enter clearings & open river banks to forage at night. During the day they hide in the dense forest. (Robin 1990) #2019MMM
Water chevroatin is primarily herbivorous, feeding primarily on the leaves, fruits, and buds of trees and shrubs. Occasionally, they eat insects, crustaceans & even small mammals. #2019MMM
Tonight's battle takes place in the Sabangau Forest of Indoneasian Borneo, a lowland tropical deep peat-swamp forest encompassing 5,300 sq. km where #ActualLivingScientist @DrSusanCheyne studied Flat-headed Cats #2019MMM citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/downlo…
The Sabangau Forest is incredibly important for protection in Borneo for water retention, carbon storage, & conservation of flora & fauna. The neighborhood is dripping with felids: clouded leopard, leopard cat, marbled cat, & flat-headed cat #2019MMM citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/downlo…
Flat-headed cat stands in the shallows of the stream, pale moon light reflects off the rippling water. CAT HOOKS CLAWS INTO GILLS, tossing the slippery, silvery scaled fish onto the tangled bank. #2019MMM
The fish flops, slapping the tiny legs of the skittish chevrotain, standing in the tangled roots of the forest trees. She rears up to flee to the water, an ancient tactic of her tragulid kind... BUT THE FLAT-HEADED CAT IS IN HER WAY #2019MMM
Flat-headed cat creeps forward in a crouch to retrieve the still-flopping fish, blocking chevrotain's water escape route #2019MMM
Flat-headed cat springs forward, hiss-growling, shoulder checking chevrotain away from the fish & pinning her against a tree trunk. #2019MMM
Chevrotain's adrenaline floods her system, her heart is racing, her breathing becomes ragged... potassium levels increase in her blood stream... #2019MMM
akotsubo cardiomyopathy!!!! A STRESS-INDUCED HEART ATTACK! ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… #2019MMM
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy! FLAT-HEADED CAT TERRIFIES WATER CHEVROTAIN TO DEATH #2019MMM
