LAST BATTLE: 8th-seeded Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens) versus 9th-seeded Spotted Linsang (Prionodon pardicolor) #2020MMM 
Our last #TeamDogsish competitor is the Red Panda, a small-to-medium sized carnivore (5kg/11lbs/23stoats) recognizable for its white face, red-ish back & long tail with red-and-buff colored rings #StoatsAsMeasurement #FLOOF #2020MMM
Red Pandas have round heads, large pointed ears, & their bodies are covered with woolly hair (even the soles of their feet!) as an adaptation to their cold, native climates at high elevations #MoreFLOOF #2020MMM animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ailur…
Red pandas live between 2200-4800m in temperate forests of the Himalayas and parts of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (range map from @IUCNredlist) where they eat mostly bamboo leaves #BestPanda #2020MMM iucnredlist.org/species/714/11…
Red panda #carnassials are much flatter and more molar-like than other carnivores. This helps them grind leaves & other plant material (Fig. 2 from Roberts & Gittleman 1984) #2020MMM repository.si.edu/bitstream/hand…
The Spotted Linsang (shown here from a camera trap in Vietnam), is a small carnivore (600g/1.3lbs/~3stoats) with a tail just as long as it's body length (each 30-40cm long, a whole stoat-length!) #StoatsAsMeasurement #2020MMM
Spotted Lingsang are feliformes; they have narrow heads, pointed mobile ears for acute hearing, & their bodies are covered with velvety-soft fur usually brown or orange-buff in color with large, dark dots arranged in lines that camouflage #TeamCatsish #2020MMM
Like other feliforms, Spotted Linsangs have retractable claws & feed mainly on small rodents with the dentition to do it #CARNASSIALS #2020MMM
The geographic range of spotted linsang includes Nepal, southeast China and Vietnam with records of animals found in forested, grassland or ripiraian habitats anywhere from 150-3300m (range map from @IUCNredlist) #2020MMM iucnredlist.org/species/41706/…
Tonight's final rumble takes place in Potatoso National Park in the Yunnan province of China (which meets @IUCN standards!), a region that both of our combatants call home #SympatricSpecies #HomeHabitatAdvantage #EverybodyWins #ButNotReally #2020MMM en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potatso_N…
Red panda jumps easily from branch to branch high in trees high above the ground, using its long tail for balance #UsefulFLOOF #2020MMM
After finding the perfect bamboo tree, the red panda settles in for a fantastic folivorous feast (i.e., lots-o-leaves) when it notices the slightest rustle nearby #2020MMM
he spotted linsang is also foraging closeby and stalks an unsuspecting Tibetan dwarf hamster! #TinyFLOOF #2020MMM
Red panda is wary of the unknown sounds, so begins to slowly raise and lower it's head while also creating a low-intensity puffing noise (Roberts & Gittleman 1984) #DontMessWithMe #2020MMM
Suddenly, the hamster employs an escape maneuver to avoid predation! Spotted linsang reacts with speed, easily moving across the branches.... #2020MMM
... and unwittingly heads directly towards the red panda!! #2020MMM
The spotted linsang avoids a major confrontation and leaves the field of play with slightly less hair on its tail #DamagedFLOOF #MinorCarnage #2020MMM
RED PANDA DEFEATS SPOTTED LINSANG!!!!!! #2020MMM
