Thread by @TCastanea

NEXT UP: #5 seed DEVIL FROG vs #12 seed FIRE SALAMANDER #2021MMM

Both of tonights combatants are amphibians, which have lived on Earth for at least 370 million years. The word amphibian comes from the Greek word amphibios, meaning "to live a double life", in reference to their aquatic & terrestrial life histories. (Vences et al 2005) #2021MMM

Predatory amphibians like adult frogs & salamanders can only eat prey as big as their mouths open - "gape-limited" predators - & are often cannibalistic - they eat each other! #2021MMM

Five mass extinction events have occurred on Earth since life began here. Scientists warn that we may be in the midst of the 6th mass extinction event, due to human alterations to the landscape. Amphibians are globally at-risk @AmphibiaWeb (Wake & Vredenburg 2008) #2021MMM

Salamanders are often associated with fire in lore, ascribed fantastic & sometimes occult qualities, like the ability to appear from fire. #2021MMM

Many salamanders breathe through their skin, so they must remain moist to survive. To keep their skin moist so they can breathe, they may hide in decomposing wood. If that log is thrown in the fire, they emerge to flee the heat. #SelfPreservationNotMagic #2021MMM

Fire Salamanders occur in central & southern Europe, usually between 250 metres (820 ft) and 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) in elevation. They are vulnerable to a new disease called #Bsal but have no fear #ActualLivingScientist @Stefano_Canessa is finding ways to stop outbreaks #2021MMM

Adult fire salamanders weigh between 5.3-51.7g, with females up to 12% larger than males (Najbar et al. 2020). Tonight's combatant is from the Polish Carpathians, where female-biased dimorphism is strongest & adults tended to be longer, heavier and older #2021MMM

The standard name using binomial nomenclature for the Devil Frog is Beelzebufo ampinga. Beelzebufo is a portmanteau of Beelzebub (alter ego of the Christian Devil) and bufo (Latin for "toad"), ampinga means "shield" in Malagasy. Art by Paleonerd01 #2021MMM #CatScandal

Devil frogs from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Maevarano Formation of present-day Madagascar were first described in 2008. In 2014, new skull, vertebrae & limb bones were reported as 'even more bizarre than originally interpreted'. (Evans et al 2014) @plosone #2021MMM

Fossils indicate this frog was large & heavily armored. It is the largest frog known to occur on Earth (~232 mm) w/ a skull width of up to 154 mm that had thick pointed bones. It's main prey... baby dinosaurs! #BucketHead #2021MMM

Our battle is set on the home court of Beelzebufo ampinga during the Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 mya) on the northwest coast of Madagascar, when the weather & climate was much cooler & drier than today. This climate is comfortable for Fire Salamander (Ohba et al 2015) #2021MMM

Both ampibians are along the edge of a pond, where the beachball-sized frog is burrowed in the sand comfortably regulating its temperature. Fire salamander switches from a slow forward moving gait to a fast trot to find cover (Karakasiliotis et al 2012) when PFFLATTT! #2021MMM

Devil Frog extends its tongue, wraps it around Fire Salamander's entire body, rolls the tasty package into its mouth & into its belly. Art by Nobu Tamura @paleofan #2021MMM

DEVIL FROG CONSUMES FIRE SALAMANDER!!!! #2021MMM