Wildlife Ecology | Natural History | Disease | Invasive Species | Contaminants | Aquatic Science | Reintroductions | #2023MMM narrator | tweets my own | she/her
This battle was a collaboration between @AnneWHilborn, @MarcKissel & ME! [gif of Jimmy Fallon saying "We are best when we work together & step up!"] #2021MMM
Pit viper's namesake Atropos is featured in the poem Shield of Heracles. Some descriptions of Atropos & Pit Viper are comparatively on point: "teeth are bright-white (λευκούς) like those of Fear; the long nails (fangs) w/ which they seize bodies" (Brockless 2017) #2021MMM 
Red Wolves are small-ish & slender canids w/ long limbs. Analyses of pre-1920 wolves suggests distinct skull morphologies btwn coyote & grey wolf but doesn't distinguish hypotheses - are they an ancient species or recent hybrid? (Nowak 2002, Audubon & Bachman 1851) #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 
Pink Vent Fish is a predator associated w/ deep sea hydrothermal vents fed by volcanos in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, hence our combatant is named in honor of Cerberus, the 3-headed hound in Greek mythology who guards the entrance to the underworld alongside Hades #2021MMM 
Giant Golden Moles are ~20 cm long & up to 539 grams (4x the size of other golden moles!). They vary in color, outer fur can be slate, dark brown, reddish or yellow-ish buff (Poduschka 1980) #2021MMM 
Red Kangaroos are the largest living marsupial, weighing in at up to 90kg & 1.8m tall when standing. Male red kangaroos are much larger than females, up to twice the size. Males are also reddish in color, while the females are bluish-grey (Freedman et al. 2020) #2021MMM 
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 
Pygmy Hogs have blackish-brown fur shaded w/ rusty red that is longer at the nape of the neck. Weighing in at 3.7kg, males are larger than females. (Mallinson 1971) indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/2… #2020MMM 
Tiger owls are generally "free from natural enemies" predators such as coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions & are known to attack humans who get too close to their nests (Baumgartner 1939) #TheyWillCutYou #2019MMM 
Both of our combatants are widespread throughout North America with overlapping ranges. Fishers inhabit forests with large trees, snags & logs for resting & denning, while tiger salamanders occur in forests, grasslands & marshy areas with soil suitable for burrowing #2019MMM 
Flat-headed cat occurs throughout the southern Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, & Borneo in low tropical forests (including oil palm plantations). They also occur in riparian habitats. animaldiversity.org/accounts/Prion… #2019MMM
The Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is a bohemith of a lizard, the largest extant species can be up to 3m (10ft) in length and weighs in at up to 70 kg (150lb) It is listed as Vulnerable by @IUCNRedList en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dr… (Ciofi 2004) #2018MMM 
