NEXT UP: #6-seed Itjaritjari (Notoryctes typhlops) vs #11-seed Silky Anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) #2023MMM 
Welcome back to the Itjaritjari!
First appearing as a combatant in 2017, Itjaritjari was a 16th seed who was dug up & scarfed by 1-seed Honey Badger.
Also, in 2022, Itjaritjari was Australia's MAMMAL OF THE YEAR! #2023MMM
First appearing as a combatant in 2017, Itjaritjari was a 16th seed who was dug up & scarfed by 1-seed Honey Badger.
Also, in 2022, Itjaritjari was Australia's MAMMAL OF THE YEAR! #2023MMM
The Itjaritjari, also called a marsupial mole, is SMOL (head & body length 121–159 mm, weight 40–70 g) & has big digging claws on front feet & a thickened "rostral horny shield" to protect its nose & front of its face (Bennison et al. 2014) #2023MMM
Itjaritjari is a marsupial whose babies spend time in a pouch after birth. Living underground, the Itjaritjari's pouch opens backwards so it doesn't fill up with sand & soil from mom's tunneling movements (Bennison et al. 2014). #2023MMM
The Silky Anteater is teensy tree-living, ant specialist that consumes 700-5000 ants per day year round. The 225gr Silky Anteater has combination coloring of grey, brown, tan, & yellow. Hairs are long & dense with a silver gloss (Hayssen et al. 2012) #2023MMM
When threatened in the tree-tops, Silky Anteater takes a defensive stance, clinging to the brach with back feet & grasping tail & holding its front feet to protect its face... (Hayssen et al. 2012) #NotTheFace #2023MMM
A defensive tactic that incidentally, was not effective in 2017 March Mammal Madness when Silky Anteater was a #15-seed against the #2-seed Clouded Leopard #2023MMM
#MMMagic transports Silky Anteater from its nocturnal ant foraging in the green, lush South American forest along river corridors... to daytime in the red sands of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in central Australia #2023MMM
In 1985, Kata-Tjuta National Park was returned to the Yankunytjatjara & Pitjantjatjara people, the traditional stewards/owners of the land <cough a handback contingent on an immediate 100-year lease to the Australian govt> #2023MMM parksaustralia.gov.au/uluru/discover…
Today in the joint-managed Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, "Tjukurpa – Anangu traditional law, knowledge & religious philosophy – guides everything that happens in the park, just as it has for tens of thousands of years." #2023MMM
Tjukurpa guidance includes "using traditional methods to conserve the park’s plants, animals, culture & landscapes." #2023MMM parksaustralia.gov.au/uluru/about/jo…
Terrified to find itself terrestrial in a sandy desert, Silky Anteater begins moving toward a massive rock in the distance. Seasonal rains pour & pool in the massive rock habitat, watering groves of Bloodwood trees at Uluru's base, an arboreal oasis for Silky Anteater. #2023MMM
POOF!
Silky Anteater leaves behind only a puff of sand dust as he shuffles laboriously on this cursed terra toward the only tree in sight, quick-quitting this nightmare scene of battle.
#2023MMM
Silky Anteater leaves behind only a puff of sand dust as he shuffles laboriously on this cursed terra toward the only tree in sight, quick-quitting this nightmare scene of battle.
#2023MMM
ITJARITJARI SCARES SILKY ANTEATER!!! #2023MMM
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
