Thread by @KristiLewton

NEXT UP: #6 Jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) vs #11 Amami Rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi)! #2021MMM

This battle was a team effort with @sexchrlab, @c_n_anderson, and me! #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson The Jagurundi has many characteristics typical of some mustelids, "the head is flat, elongate, and low, the ears are small and rounded, and the limbs are proportionally shorter relative to the length of the body" (de Oliveira 1998) #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson Early German zoologists referred to the Jagurundi as a 'weasel cat'. It kinda looks like an otter. Image by Vassil, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson Jaguarundi, Herpailurus yagouaroundi, is neither weasel, nor otter, but a cat! DNA analyses show that Jaguarundi is nested within major felid lineages, most closely related to puma and cheetah: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P… #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson Jaguarundi weighs ~3.5-6.5kg and preys upon small and medium-sized mammals (including cottontail rabbits), birds, and reptiles #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson Jaguarundi is very flexible in its use of ecologies and can be found in forests, grasslands, riverine environs, and chaparral. They're found from sea level to mountains throughout South & Central America, perhaps up into the SW USA #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson Amami Rabbit is an endangered species found only on two small islands in Japan (Amami Oshima and Tokunoshima) #2021MMM Image by Momotarou2012, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson Amami Rabbit weighs ~2-2.5kg, has dark, thick, woolly fur, lives in subtropical forests, and eats all kinds of plants (Yamada, 2008) #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson Amami Rabbit is a primitive member of the Leporidae family, having arisen during the Middle Miocene ~12-16 million years ago, when these islands were still connected to the mainland (Yamada, 2008) #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson Is the Amami Rabbit, Pentalagus furnessi, a rabbit or a rodent? Morphology and genetics suggest it nested within hares and rabbits. jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ggs/77… #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson In 1979, a small mongoose, Herpestes javanicus, was introduced to Amami Oshima to control populations of a venomous pit viper (Yamada et al, 2000, jstage.jst.go.jp/article/tropic…) #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson In addition to eating up snakes, the mongooses also ended up eating the rabbits #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson Although Amami Rabbit already had predators on the island (including the pit viper), the invasive mongooses now pose a considerable risk to population decline of Amami Rabbit (Yamada et al, 2000) #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson Tonight's battle occurs in Manú National Park in Peru, a @UNESCO World Heritage Site whc.unesco.org/en/list/402/ #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson @UNESCO Jaguarundi are particularly common in the lowland rainforests in Manú National Park onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11… #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson @UNESCO Unfortunately for Amami Rabbit, there are all kinds of things in this forest that would love to eat it, including a local pit viper (Lachesis muta) known as shushúpe #2021MMM Image by Christopher Murray, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson @UNESCO While Amami Rabbit is eating its veggies, the shushúpe slithers up and swiftly lurches forward to bite the Amami Rabbit! #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson @UNESCO Amami Rabbit leaps away, narrowly missing the venomous bite #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson @UNESCO Meanwhile, Jaguarundi is out of sight, observing Amami Rabbit's escape from the pit viper... #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson @UNESCO Just as Amami Rabbit resumes eating the vegetation on the forest floor, Jaguarundi snatches the rabbit!!! #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson @UNESCO And this is where those beautiful #carnassials come into play en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnassial #2021MMM

@sexchrlab @c_n_anderson @UNESCO JAGUARUNDI CONSUMES AMAMI RABBIT!!! #2021MMM