Thread by @MarcKissel

Next up: #1 ranked Moose vs. #8 ranked Flat-headed Cat! #2019MMM

Moose are part of North American culture. For example, kid's books discuss gift-giving & reciprocity among moose who are the recipients of muffins. However, they'd probably rather eat roots, bark, & twigs #2019MMM

In fact, the name "moose" comes from an Algonkian word meaning "twig eater" (nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.113…). While they don’t have front top teeth, their detention are well-adapted to cutting vegetation #veggie #2019MMM

Moose who live in colder regions are heavier & have shorter ears than those from warmer climates (Bergmann's & Allen's Rules). Most heat is lost at the surface, so the surface area:volume ratio is impt. when the ratio is low, less heat is lost. #2019MMM bit.ly/2TPkxfr

Our other contender is the flat-headed cat, whose eyes are set father forward & closer together than other cats, allowing it more stereoscopic vision (ability to see in 3 dimensions). Its pointed teeth & mostly parallel tooth rows give it the power to grip #2019MMM

Flat-Headed cat is squatty unlike other cats. Like proto-felid Nimravid, it is better described as a "saber toothed badger." Sunquist & Sunquist note that while flatcat is related to the Leopard Cat, it resembles more a mustelid #StoatsAsComparativeBodyTypes #2019MMM

Our battle takes place in the Willow Flats in Grand Teton, a 310,000 acre National Park in NW Wyoming. Please wish the park a belated happy 90th birthday #2019MMM

Flat-headed cat is fishing in a nearby creek. Research suggests that they really love the water: "When a captive kitten was given a large bowl of water, it immediately jumped in & began to play" (sunquist & sunquist 2002) #2019MMM

Moose is happy here. He is spendin' most his life livin' in the Alces's paradise #2019MMM

There are no moose in flatcat's home (Thai-Malay Peninsula, Borneo & Sumatra) but the cats share range with sambar deer, a ~350 kg cervid. So cat isn't totally suprised by this giant deer that wanders by, scaring away any fish #2019MMM

However, a moose <is> significantly larger than a chevrotain (~320-475 kg compared to ~8 kg) so if flatcat plans to frighten moose to death like it did to the chevrotain it may be sorely mistaken #2019MMM

It can get very muddy here (4-6 inches of mud in some places!). Moose have a large dewclaw (thumb-like appendage) which it spreads to support its weight in the mud. The crook of its hind leg lets the moose pull its leg straight up to release a mud-stuck foot #2019MMM

cat is less well-adapted to this habitat....dramatic recreation in the photo:#2019MMM also:

not much is known about flat-headed cat's behavior (dissertation idea!). Would a small felid attack a moose for ruining its dinner? Is it going to set right what once went wrong for its fellow felines? #ohboy #2019MM

Cat, thinking the best action is not to mess with a mangy moose, attempts to unstuck itself from the mud to find food in a less moose-heavy & less muddy part of the Willow Flats #2019MMM

MOOSE displaces FLAT-HEADED CAT #2019MMM