Thread by @PKurnath

NEXT UP: championship match of the Red In Fur Division - #1 seed RED KANGAROO vs #2 seed RED HARTEBEEST #2021MMM

Tonight's match is brought to you by the collaborative efforts of @TCastanea @AnneWHilborn and yours truly [gif is of Kelly Clarkson on The Voice saying "my team is so stacked"] #2021MMM

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Previously on #2021MMM, Kangaroo slobbered over Southern Red-backed Vole, intimated Red-crested Tree Rat, & chased away Red Brocket. Red Hartebeest squashed Red Squirrel with his hooves, watched on as Vervet Monkeys scared away Red Ruffed Lemur, & chased off Bay Cat.

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Red Kangaroos weigh in at 90kg (409 stoats), stand 1.8m tall (7.2 stoats), & can reach speeds of 40 km/h #ReCapStats #StoatsAsMeasurement #2021MMM

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Red Kangaroo's home habitat includes most of the Australian continent & more specifically semi-arid grasslands, shrublands, open deserts, & even denser woodlands (Freeman et al 2020) #2021MMM tinyurl.com/b2pkjja4

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Red Hartebeests tip the scale at 150kg (682 stoats), stand 135 cm (5.4 stoats) at their shoulders, have horns reaching 60 cm long (1.8 stoats) & can reach speeds of 75 km/h #RecapStats #StoatsAsMeasurement #2021MMM

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Red Hartebeest's home habitat is southern Africa, particularly grasslands & savannahs. Red Hartebeests are often observed along edges of open plains & associated ecotones (regions of transition between two distinct plant communities) #2021MMM tinyurl.com/c7fbdjcw

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Fire plays a critical role in shaping the environment. Some plants, known as pyrophytes (pyro = fire, phytes = plants), have adapted to tolerate or resist the effects of fire #2021MMM

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Global models of fire season severity suggest that we're in a period of reduced fire severity BUT some areas (Southern Africa, Eastern Russia & Western US) are trending toward an increase in fire severity (Ferreira et al 2020) #2021MMM doi.org/10.1016/j.cage…

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn In 2020, we witnessed devastating fires in habitats across the world, including down under in Red Kangaroo's home habitat. An estimated three billion animals were killed during the 2019/20 fire season in Australia #2021MMM tinyurl.com/e3aa4x6w

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn To process this grief, we can look to Myths & Legends like Prometheus & the duplicitous gift of fire, which both led to the current tragedy of the Anthropocene & offers impetus to imagine a future beyond the Anthropocene (Oele 2020) #2021MMM repository.usfca.edu/phil/67/

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Tonight's #MMMagic situates our combatants in a... DWARF FOREST, located in southern California. We find stunted, gnarled trees & the dominant shrub is chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum, AKA greasewood) a PYROPHYTIC plant (Bowman 1913) #2021MMM tinyurl.com/y3j9sd6u

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn The fire forecast at the battle scene is currently low risk - March typically has a low fire severity risk (Ferreira et al 2020) #2021MMM doi.org/10.1016/j.cage…

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Both of our Red in Fur mammals prefer open habitat but will use woodlands. Red Kangaroo actually prefer wooded areas over open habitats for protection against extreme heat and/or predators (Freeman et al 2020) #2021MMM

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Hartebeests in general do not like woodlands & avoid them even more in the presence of predators like lions (Ng'Weno et al 2017) #2021MMM tinyurl.com/ykfc8y34

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn After the #MMMagic travel, Red Kangaroo is parched and surveys it's surrounding, soon finding a small ephemeral pool from a recent spring rainstorm #2021MMM

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn However, Red Hartebeest finds the same water source and, also parched from his #MMMagical journey, comes upon Red Kangaroo as the 'Roo is about to take a drink #2021MMM

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Both mammals stop and stare at each other [gif is of The Rock and Hulk Hogan staring at each other] #2021MMM

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Red Kangaroos are not into sharing and often defend their water resources from other species in the Outback (Croft 1985) #2021MMM tinyurl.com/n8suxzmd

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Hartebeest holds his ground, deciding if this strange animal is a competitor or predator #FightorFlight #2021MMM

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Red Kangaroo stands up-right, as tall as possible, takes a short hop towards the Hartebeest, and snorts "Ha" (Freeman et al 2020, Russel 1970) #YouWannaPieceOfThis #2021MMM tinyurl.com/pd2seu26

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Red Hartebeest stomps his front hooves & shakes his head (Estes 1991) #DoYOUWannaPieceOfThis #2021MMM tinyurl.com/scxeu3dv

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Balancing on his toes and tail with forelimbs crossed, Red Kangaroo starts licking the fur on his upper chest, releasing a strong smelling & reddish secretion from scent glands (Freeman et al 2020) #WellThatsAStrategy #2021MMM

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Red Hartebeest has had enough and LUNGES at the Red Kangaroo with it's head down, preparing to grapple with it's curved horns "like twin rapiers to stab at the opponent's chin and throat" (Lundrigan 1996) #FIGHT #2021MMM tinyurl.com/3uky8k7j

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Red Kangaroo side-hops the attack, turns quickly and KICKS at the backside of Red Hartebeest with its strong hind limbs #DODGE #COUNTERATTACK #2021MMM

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn THUDDD!!! #2021MMM

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Red Hartebeest slips on tree roots after the Kangaroo kick and topples to the forest floor!! #2021MMM

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Red Hartebeest flails on the ground and tries to get back up, while Red Kangaroo assumes his dauntingly tall stance again #2021MMM

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn Back on his hooves, Red Hartebeest stares at Red Kangaroo... #2021MMM

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn ... then turns and gallops away! Red Kangaroo attacked like a predator, so without females or territory to defend, Red Hartebeest escapes the woodlands for the safety of open space #FLIGHT #2021MMM

@TCastanea @AnneWHilborn RED KANGAROO DEFEATS RED HARTEBEEST!!!!! #2021MMM