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Next up from the WATERFALLS division: #2 ranked Manatee (Trichechus manatus) vs. # 3 ranked Tapir (Tapirus terrestris). This battle was a tag-team effort with @je_light #teamworkDreamwork #2019MMM 
West Indian Manatees are found in the Gulf of Mexico. They prefer warmer temps due to their lower metabolic rate #seacow #2019MMM (web.archive.org/web/2014022214…)
and now, David Attenborough learns that manatees have bad breath! #2019MMM
Like Manatees, Tapirs are herbivores. They use their rubbery noses to grab fruit & aquatic plants. Plus, they use their noses as a snorkel when underwater & to detect odors in a dense forest #2019MMM
Tapirs belong to the order Perissodactyla. This means Tapirs are closely related to horses, zebras, & rhinoceros (& not other mammals with trunk like nasal appendages). Perissodactyla was once represented by a lot of species (speciose), but now, few species remain #2019MMM
Like all Perissodactlya, Tapirs are not very diverse (~4 species). Additionally, Tapir populations are currently declining due to a variety of human related causes like habitat loss, illegal hunting, road-kill, & competition with livestock @IUCNRedList #2019MMM
Tonight's battle is in the Florida Everglades, a national & international treasure established as a National Park in 1947 nps.gov/ever/index.htm. The history of the Everglades is fascinating; read about it here: nps.gov/ever/learn/his… #2019MMM
Manatees are one of ~40 mammal species that occur in the Everglades nps.gov/ever/learn/nat…. Slow moving, obligate aquatic Manatees are a main attraction for many boat tours across the park. But, Manatees can't hear low frequencies well & often don't hear boats coming #2019MMM
This makes Manatees susceptible to boat strikes & some pretty horrendous injuries caused by boat propellers. Manatees are particularly susceptible to strikes from fast moving boats (Nowacek et al. 2004) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.111… #2019MMM
Manatee deaths in Florida last year were at an all time high, due to a combination of boat strikes, cold temperatures, & pollution-induced harmful red-tide algal blooms miami.cbslocal.com/2018/12/31/man… & news-press.com/story/news/201… #2019MMM
The Everglades are peaceful today & Manatee is slowly swimming at a depth of 4 m feeding on sea grasses. Manatee uses her flexible split upper lip to grab onto the sea grasses & to pass food to her mouth animaldiversity.org/accounts/Trich… #2019MMM
The openness of the Everglades, however, is a bit disconcerting for our Tapir. She would prefer to be inconspicuous & enters the water to avoid potential predators that may be lurking in this novel environment #2019MMM
Tapirs are surprisingly good swimmers & water is pretty important in their day-to-day activities. They defecate in the water, are known to mate in the water, & can even walk along the bottom of lakes & rivers #2019MMM
Diving below the water, Tapir spies a potentially delicious food source: Seagrass. Given her poor eyesight (which is even worse under water), Tapir swims down for a closer look, unaware of a giant blob in front of her. Tapir bumps into Manatee! #ManateeBlob #2019MMM
Tapir eyes Manatee & Manatee eyes Tapir! They stare in bewilderment, each thinking the other is ridiculous looking & both come up to the surface for a better look & a breath of air #2019MMM
BUMP!! #2019MMM
Breaking of the water's surface is timed perfectly with a fast-moving boat, which hits the much smaller Tapir first (~943 stoats #StoatsAsMeasurement). The propellers do their thing & Tapir is killed instantly #2019MMM
Manatee is also hit, but the damage is less severe. Manatee swims down away from the surface to recover from the impact. Tapir's lifeless body bobs silently as the wake from the boat slowly dissipates #2019MMM
MANATEE OUTLASTS TAPIR #2019MMM
