Patrick Geyer successfully defended his thesis today! Patrick’s project examined differences in bat echolocation calls and feeding buzzes on and off prairie dog colonies at The Nature Conservancy’s Smoky Valley Ranch in western Kansas. Congratulations!!!
An enormous black and yellow banded wasp with golden-brown eyes, legs and wings. It is hugging a cicada belly to belly in a patch of bright green grass. By hugging, I mean the wasp has captured the cicada and stung it to paralyze it and take it back to it's lair to feed it's larvae alive. The cicada is larger than the wasp, has a white belly and a green back
An enormous white and brown vulture flying with a dark grey cliff in the background. Sun is shining through it's flight feathers. It's tail is diamond shaped and has tail feathers in different stages of growth. The leading edge of the wing is is dark brown. It's white belly and neck have tinges of orange.
FIRST UP: #2-seed OSSIFRAGE (Gypaetus barbatus) vs #15-seed CICADA KILLER WASP (Sphecius speciosus) #2026MMM #2026mmm
Single dromedary camel (one hump) facing towards the left. The camels' tan coat is a very similar color to the dark and light browns of the desert background
A blackish-brown bat being held by two hands.One of the bats wings is extended out to the side.
Next Up: #2-seed Wild Dromedary Camel (Camelus dromedarius) vs. #15-seed NZ Greater Short-Tailed Bat (Mystacina robusta) #2026MMM
Black and white hand-drawn illustration of Caribbean Monk Seal, cited as Figure 2 in scientific paper by Jorgensen 2021. The seal is resting on a flat rock, head and neck down, with tropical plants and the ocean's coastline in the background.
Colored photograph / rendering of Yallara, standing on hind legs (feet clearly visible, long and flat with clawed toes), fore limbs pointing towards ground, tail resting on ground, tall ears erect, long snout visible. Surroundings include red soil, rocks and short vegetation. Image by AussieAnimals.com.
UP NEXT: 4th-seeded Caribbean Monk Seal (Neomonachus tropicalis) vs. 13th-seeded Yallara (Macrotis leucura), a special collaboration between @mammalssuck.bsky.social & yours truly #2026MMM
UP NEXT: 1st-seeded Steller's Sea Cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) vs. 16th-seeded St Kilda House Mouse (Mus musculus muralis) #2026MMM
TONIGHT is ROUND 1 of the Extinction is Forever Division of species lost in recent decades & centuries due to the actions, and inactions, of humans. #HumanImpacts #Anthropocene #2026MMM
Cozy Friday night… #kitty
Thought something tasted funny… #2026MMM
Photo of a Fox
Photo of a Book Scorpion
Moving On: #5-seed Grey Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) vs. #12-seed Book Scorpion (Chelifer cancroides) #2026MMM
A photo of a Mesopotamian himri on a black background.
A photo of a White Stork standing in a grassy field.
Next Up: #7 White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) vs. #10 Mesopotamian himri (Carasobarbus luteus) #2026MMM
Up next: #6-seed cat (Felis catus) vs #11-seed common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) #2026MMM
Grey striped cat yawning, pink tongue lolling out
Up next: 6-seed cat (Felis catus) vs 11-seed common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) #2026MMM
Photo of Crocodile
Photo of Papyrus thicket
First Up: #1-seed Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) vs. #16-seed Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) #2026MMM
Spectacled Bear
Mountain Gorilla
LAST BATTLE OF THE NIGHT! Seed #8 Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatus) vs Seed #9 Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei) #2026MMM
But sloths are good swimmers! Though surprised at his suddenly aquatic surroundings, Sloth begins to paddle. (Britton 1941) #2026MMM
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7HG...
Next Up! 3rd seed Common Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) vs 14th seed Brown-Throated Sloth (Bradypus variegatus). #2026MMM
This phylogenetic tree marks with red arrows the pseudogenization (gene becoming nonfunctional) of PADI3 and S100A3, two hair-related genes. The two groups seem to have lost these genes independently. This is an example of convergent evolution in two aquatic animals.
Hippos are the closest relatives to cetaceans (whales, dolphins), but these two groups lost their hair independently. Genetics show that hair-related PADI3 and S100A3 became nonfunctional pseudogenes AFTER these two groups split. #2026MMM doi.org/10.1007/s002...
grey Asian elephant in forest. he is facing the camera and takes up most of the image!
Beech marten in forest. Its nose is grey colour. he has a white , forked throat patch, coarse, brown fur, and a long tail
NEXT UP: 2-seed Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) vs. 15-seed Beech Marten (Martes foina) #2026MMM
But judge them not by their size! A Beech Marten took down the ~9 billion dollar Large Hadron Collider when it chewed through wire connected to a transformer, bringing a, ahem, paws to the workday (Aron 2016) #2026MMM
Gorgeous Giraffe
Gorgeous Giant Anteater
NEXT UP: No. 5 Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) vs. No. 12 Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) #2026MMM
NEXT UP: No. 4 Indian Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) vs. No. 13 Chital (Axis axis) #2026MMM
Animals on MONEY
WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME
to the first night of ROUND 1
MONEY MAMMALS DIVISION!
#2026MMM
4x the search traffic for the species after being included in MMM than when it was covered in the NYT, CBS, NPR, etc.
But can we talk about that "Bone Collector Caterpillar" March Mammal Madness bump? #GoogleSearchTrends #DustsShouldersOff #2026MMM
Finally, some cute pet pics from the past few months.
The @mammalmeetings.bsky.social meeting wrapped up last week. I have a well-attended talk on teaching, co-facilitated a workshop with other @stemsquirrels.bsky.social folks, attended workshops and talks, and with old and new friends. I’m also terrible at remembering to get pics with folks…
Undergrad Alison is extracting, amplifying, and sequencing DNA from guano to identify bat species using a military base.
