PhD in wild animal gut microbiomes • now grant writer @calacademy / prev 🐸 @PittBioSci, 🐒 @NDBios, 🦠 @Cal • she/her/hers • tweets my own
Bushdog, irara, gato negro, perro de monte, lepasil, tayra. Our first combatant is a #MustelidofManyNames - every country in its range has their own name. The genus alludes to this: Eira is Guarani [indigenous language spoken by peoples of Bolivia/Paraguay] for tayra. #2020MMM 
Last round we saw our mammalian #AltCat contestants "triumph" over their herp competitors: Lion-Tailed Macaque held a long protective vigil until the Cat Snake departed for tastier pastures, and Bearcat took a tumble out of a fig tree directly onto Leopard Tree Frog. #2019MMM
In the first round of the Waterfalls Division, we saw Manatee triumph over the Ring-tailed Vontsira via nibble and Aquatic Genet eek out a victory over the Marine Otter thanks to a close encounter of the orca kind. #2019MMM
Today's first battle pits two of the most classic mutualisms against one another. When I say classic, I mean so classic that there's actually a picture of a zebra and an oxpecker next to the definition of mutualism on Google. #2019MMM 
The dawn is rising on the Brazilian Cerrado, or tropical woodland savanna of central Brazil. The Cerrado is the most biodiverse savannah in the world: 5% of the world's plants & animals are native to this biome. #2019MMM kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.338…
What in the world is a bat doing on the Waterfalls division? Well, those of you that did your research will know that the Greater Bulldog Bat is adapted for piscivory, or fish eating, in tropical lowland habitats #2019MMM 
Our competitors in this first battle have so far only faced off with much smaller Arthropod foes, so the Sweet 16 Round will be their first tournament tumble with large vertebrate competitors. #2018MMM
The tardigrade was discovered by German Pastor J.A.E. Goeze in 1773. He dubbed it a "water bear" based on the way it moves-like of a bear lumbering around. Water bear isn't the only name for the tardigrade, however. It is also known as the "moss piglet". #2018MMM
