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March Mammal Madness

@mmmletsgo.bsky.social

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https://libguides.asu.edu/MarchMammalMadness

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March Mammal Madness @mmmletsgo.bsky.social · Apr 3

#2025MMM CHAMPION: POLAR BEAR

Thank you so much for following along, and we can't wait to see you next year for #2026MMM!

Remember: if you're learning, you're winning!

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Jess Popescu @jesspopescu.bsky.social · Apr 3

#2025MMM CHAMPIONSHIP
EMOJI BATTLE

🐻‍❄️🆚😼:🌋🧊/🪨↔️🪨/😼🪄😤
🐻‍❄️🪄👀/😼🤫🐾/😼😤🔜
🐻‍❄️🩼🦌/🐻‍❄️🦌🏞️/🐻‍❄️🔪🦌
😼🛬🦌/😼🦷🦌/🐻‍❄️🩼↪️
😼🩸🔊/🐻‍❄️🔉/😼🔪🦌/😼➡️
🐻‍❄️🔊/🐻‍❄️🧍🏻🦌/🐻‍❄️🦷🦌/😼🛫
😼🏃🏽‍♂️‍➡️👋🏽/🐻‍❄️🍽️🦌/🐻‍❄️🛡️🦊
🏆🐻‍❄️

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Fernando Villanea @fervillanea.bsky.social · Apr 3

Thank you for another great season of March Mammal Madness from Genetics Team!
@acstone.bsky.social
@cegamorim.bsky.social
@elinork.bsky.social
@afogel29.bsky.social
@elliecat.bsky.social
@lucasrocm.bsky.social
@n8upham.bsky.social
@carloschalicothere.bsky.social
and myself!

#2025MMM

a blue background with a cartoon character and the word canal on the bottom right

ALT: a blue background with a cartoon character and the word canal on the bottom right

media.tenor.com

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March Mammal Madness @mmmletsgo.bsky.social · Apr 3

#2025MMM CHAMPION: POLAR BEAR

Thank you so much for following along, and we can't wait to see you next year for #2026MMM!

Remember: if you're learning, you're winning!

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

Until NEXT WE MEET- GOOD NIGHT & GOOD LUCK!!!

#2025MMM

kermit the frog and miss piggy from the muppet show are talking to each other

Alt: kermit the frog and miss piggy from the muppet show are talking to each other and kermit says, good luck kid

media.tenor.com

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

AND help protect Pumas!

(good for nature, good for hunting dogs)
#2025MMM

Find out more from the Mountain Lion Foundation!
mountainlion.org

a painting of a mountain lion walking through the woods .

ALT: a painting of a mountain lion walking through the woods .

media.tenor.com

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

THANK YOU EVERYONE for another INCREDIBLE MARCH MAMMAL MADNESS! #2025MMM

Please help defend the Arctic and protect Polar Bears!

www.defendthearctic.org

a polar bear with its mouth open and teeth showing

ALT: a polar bear with its mouth open and teeth showing

media.tenor.com

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Fernando Villanea @fervillanea.bsky.social · Apr 3

Though the puma didn't come out on top here, the species' resilience is unquestionable! Genetic analyses from Onorato et al. show a 20x increase in effective pop size and reduced signs of inbreeding in FL pumas after genetic rescue from Texas pumas. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #2025MMM #RIP

Estimates of the range-wide population size of adult and subadult Florida panthers from 1981 to 2020 using: (1) the 95% lower confidence interval of the motor vehicle mortality (MVM) model-averaged abundance estimate plotted in blue for the period 2000–2018 (2) the minimum population count (MPC) plotted in orange, for the period 1981–2015; (3) and the integrated population model plotted in grey, for the period 1982–2020. The year in which genetic rescue was initiated (1995) coincides with the subsequent increase in the population size that was documented by all three metrics.

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Opellisms @opellisms.bsky.social · Apr 3

#2025MMM #2025MMMChampion #DivisionTuxedoStyle #TeamPolarBear Art by Olivia Pellicer @opellisms.bsky.social Mary C Freisner @maryfreisner.bsky.social Valeria Pellicer @veppart.bsky.social and Charon Henning @oddangel.bsky.social

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

POLAR BEAR IS THE #2025MMM CHAMPION!!!!

ARTWORK by @veppart.bsky.social!

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

Polar Bear guards the caribou carcass, chasing away sneaky sneak Arctic foxes for TWO HOURS

consuming 60% of the caribou meat!!!

(Stempniewicz et al. 2021) #2025MMM

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

PUMA FLEES the FIELD OF BATTLE! (Krofel et al. 2012) #2025MMM

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Article
The noble cats and the big bad scavengers: effects of dominant scavengers on solitary predators
Original Paper
Published: 13 July 2012
Volume 66, pages 1297–1304, (2012)

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

"Cougars may lose a considerable energy investment when displaced by an aggressive scavenger or may incur injuries when defending their kills"

and do not fight to recover a stolen carcass from such a dominant scavenger!!

(Murphy et al. 1998) #2025MMM

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

In some regions, at times, puma-killed ungulates can support most of bear nutritional needs- bears eavesdrop on cougars, moving toward their calls and steal their kills! #KLEPTOPARASITISM (Rabe et al. 2025; Murphy et al. 1998; Engebretsen et al. 2021; Suraci et al. 2017) #2025MMM

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

After all... URSIDS ROUTINELY DISPLACE PUMA FROM SUCCESSFUL KILLS!!! #2025MMM

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

PUMA STARES WITH POWERLESS DISDAIN AT THE CARCASS-STEALING URSID THIEF! #2025MMM

BLANK-FACED PUMA, but you can tell it's full of disdain and frustration.

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

POLAR BEAR LEANS DOWN, AND WITH STILL STRONG JAWS

"RIPS THE CARIBOU OPEN AND EATS ITS FLESH"

SHEARING CARIBOU TISSUE WITH CARNASSIALS!!

(Stempniewicz et al. 2021; Tremblay et al. 2025) #2025MMM

Figure 3. Polar bear Ursus maritimus with a killed reindeer Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus on skerries (a), dragging it on to the beach (b), eating it (c) and trying to bury it (d). Photos: P. Klicz and P. Nowosad

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

PUMA SPRINGS BACKWARDS FROM THE MASSIVE BEAR! #2025MMM

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

Polar Bear RUSH CHARGES ON THREE LEGS TO 3-POINT STAND ON THE CARIBOU CARCASS!!! #2025MMM

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

Male-Male Battles for Mates & Carcasses can cause significant canine breakage, especially as male polar bears reach older ages! PAPER DROPPED LAST WEEK!!!

(Tremblay et al. 2025) #2025MMM

Fig 2. Canine breakage categories.

(A) Canine classifications (starting top left clockwise): 1, 3, 2, 1. Side panels depict illustrative approximate vertical cut-offs for each breakage classification and real-life examples associated with each category, denoted by number. Images taken by David McGeachy and Andrew E. Derocher. Image in Panel A reprinted from [52] under a CC BY license, with permission from Andrew E. Derocher, original copyright [2023]. Illustrations by Simonne S. Tremblay.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0319753.g002

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

POLAR BEAR HUFF-ROARS AT PUMA

SHOWING THAT THAT ONE OF HIS CANINES IS BROKEN!!!!

FROM MALE-MALE BATTLES

AMONG ADULT POLAR BEARS!!!!

(Tremblay et al. 2025) #2025MMM

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

Puma keeps pulling the caribou carcass through the geothermal wetland

as Polar Bear watches from a 3-point stance, holding his injured paw tucked to his chest!

#2025MMM

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

AND the injured foreleg can not support Polar Bear's weight while he reaches with his good paw

to claw-grasp-YOINK the carcass!!!

#2025MMM

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

With his injured foreleg, Polar Bear can not reach out to grab & pull the caribou carcass...

#2025MMM

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

Puma deploys vicious claws into the caribou carcass to hold onto the prey!

#2025MMM

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · Apr 3

Polar Bear assesses the scene of inter-species competition at a carcass,

Polar Bear makes huffing & jaw popping sounds

of subtle, but overt

aggression

(Miller et al. 2015) #2025MMM

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