Thread by @TCastanea

FIRST UP: #2 SEED FLORIDA PANTHER (PUMA CONCOLOR CORYI) VERSUS AMPHIBIAN CHYTRID FUNGUS (BATRACHOCHYTRIUM DENDROBATIDIS) Photos: @FWS & Rob O’ Sullivan #2020MMM

Whether you call it a panther, puma, cougar, or mountain lion - Puma concolor means lion-of-one-color. Panthers are shades of tan, coryi subsp. is darker brown to rust & kittens are gray w/ dark brown/blackish spots & five bands around the tail. fws.gov/refuge/florida… #2020MMM

Mountain lions are one of the most widespread felids in the Americas. Rangewide @IUCN ranks them as Least Concern but the coryi subspecies has been listed by @USFWS as an endangered species since 1967. fws.gov/refuge/florida… #2020MMM

Florida panther or uekatcv occurs on the traditional lands of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Mvskoke Language Program is a Resource Center for Mvskoke Language w/ distance learning for citizens via College of the Muscogee Nation mcn-nsn.gov/services/mvsko… Map: Gross 2005 #2020MMM

Florida panther diet consists mostly of deer (eco) & hogs (sukhv) & sometimes racoons (wotko). They rarely, but occasionally eat livestock (goats) & domestic cats (pose) digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewconten… #KeepYourCatsIndoors #2020MMM

As obligate meat (vpeswv) eaters, Florida Panthers are not known to eat figs (ke rakko). #2020MMM #FigGate [gif is a mountain lion licking lips with cub crawling on it]

Florida panthers are making a comeback but given the high road density in southern Florida, they are vulnerable to vehicle strikes, especially adult males who travel greater distances than females (Schwab & Zandbergan 2011) #2020MMM sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

The amphibian chytrid fungus is not a mushroom (pvto) but rather a tiny cup-shaped fungus. Very few chytrids cause disease, most are saprobic & decompose plant matter. They play important roles in aquatic food webs (Gleason et al 2008) #2020MMM researchgate.net/profile/Telesp…

Amphibian chytrid fugus is globally distributed & has been implicated in the decline of hundreds of amphibian species (Olson et al. 2013) bd-maps.net #2020MMM

Some amphibian populations co-evolved with the fungus but since the 1940s, the wildlife trade has spread new strains of the fungus to new places & the local amphibians did not have immunity to these new strains (Fisher & Garner 2020) #2020MMM

https://twitter.com/fisher_mat/status/1232344956813152257

Amphibian chytrid can infect treefrogs (oske enhuehkv), toads (sopaktv), bullfrogs (vpvtvnv), and salamanders (vcoklopv), and can live in aquatic environments year round (Chestnut et al 2014) #thatsME journals.plos.org/plosone/articl… #2020MMM

Amphibian chytrid also has non-amphibian hosts including crayfish (McMahon et al 2013) #ActualLivingScientist @TaeganMcMahon pnas.org/content/110/1/…

A chytrid infection doesn't mean an amphibian will die. #ActualLivingScientist Mat Fisher explains the life history, genetic & environmental factors that influence how hosts may respond to a chytrid infection (Fisher & Garner 2020) #VivaLaNuance #2020MMM

https://twitter.com/fisher_mat/status/1232344950685274112

Our battle takes place @EvergladesNPS at dawn, where both Florida Panthers & amphibian chytrid fungus occur

https://twitter.com/EvergladesNPS/status/1169694095519993861

Our large 160 pound male combatant is stalking a group of racoons who are busy hunting crayfish on the edge of the swamp forest. The panther is a patient ambush predator but his hunger is getting the best of him... #2020

The panther RUSHES the group & the racoons scatter. An expert hunter, he grabs a racoon who had a crayfish mid-bite #2020MMM [gif of mountain lion running in water]

The raccoon drops the crayfish in the hot sun... it's chytrid infected guts are splayed open & begin to bake while the panther caches his prey to consume later that night (Beire et al 1995) academic.oup.com/jmammal/articl… #2020MMM

FLORIDA PANTHER DESSICATES AMPHIBIAN CHYTRID FUNGUS!!!!!!!!! #2020MMM