Who Will Win the PPS Golden Mammal prize?

March Mammal Madness 2019

March Mammal Madness is fast becoming a PPS tradition! Each year professor Katie Hinde from Arizona State University directs an excitement-filled tournament, in which mammals and sometimes non-mammals compete for the top spot on the food chain. This year, PPS students and teachers submitted brackets to compete in our own March Mammal Madness contest, and the competition is fierce!

After some dramatic upsets, the final four mammals in the 2019 competition include the Bengal Tiger, the Moose, the Mongoose & Warthog (#WarGoose) and the Sea Lion.

So far, the top PPS contenders and their picks are:

  • Mrs. Athey - Bengal Tiger
  • Nathan Breitbarth - Bengal Tiger
  • Chandler Jewell - Bengal Tiger
  • Sadie Lamplot - Bengal Tiger
  • Rylee Lehmkuhl - Moose
  • Samaria Loera - Bengal Tiger
  • Mr. Miller - Moose
  • Skyler Prokop - Moose
  • Mercede Roberts - Bengal Tiger
  • Christopher Rutar - Bengal Tiger
  • Miss Swanson - Moose

Final winners will be determined by bracket points if the Bengal Tiger comes out on top! Congratulations to all of those who made it to Elite Trait (8!) round. You must have really done your research! The Final Roar (4) winners will be announced tonight via Twitter (#2019MMM or @2019MMMletsgo). The Championship takes place Wednesday evening. Stay tuned on Thursday to find out who will take home the Golden Mammal prize! 

How did we get here? 

Advanced Biology has been tracking the results so far! Also check out the bracket near the concession stand to see pictures!

Round 1: Tag Team by Rylee Lehmkuhl

The Tag Team division is based off of animals that come in pairs. This mean two animals vs. two other animals and they will fight to the death, but surprises happen. With the Zebra and Oxpecker ranked number 1 they advance through the first round beating rank 16 Batfly and Gammaproteobacteria. An aardvark can be very protective of their aardvark cucumbers so when the goeldi’s monkey and the saddleback tamarin and white-lipped tamarin try to steal a aardvarks aardvark cucumber the aardvark will attack. This battle leaves the aardvark keeping his aardvark cucumber safe, aardvark for the win.

The next battle is the crab and sea turtle vs. the clownfish and sea anemone. The anemone and sea turtle providing housing for their partners in this battle. During this battle the clownfish swims to its own death so crab and sea turtle for the win. Next up is rank 4 wrasse and moray eel and rank 13 fire coral and algae. In this battle the moray eel gets a little too close to the fire coral getting stung, but as the moray eel jerks away a little parrot fish eat the fire coral. With the eel stung the wrasse will help get the sting out, but could this affect the moray eel for future battles? In this battle the Diana Monkey and Red Colobus vs the bornean bat and pitcher plant the pitcher plant doesn’t have very good luck. It dies from getting squashed by the monkeys. Rank 14 was no match for rank 3. Burying beetles and phoretic mites didn’t last long as the warthog took a nap while the mongoose plucked them off one at a time off of the warthog eating them. Next time they should find a better place to cool off.

This next match was a difficult one for the fork-tailed drongos and sociable weaver. While they aren’t in their usual environment they were no match for the anaconda swimming in the swamp next to them. They fly away so this is leaving an easy win for the wattled jacana and capybara. For the last battle of round one for tag team they leaves up with the coyote and badger vs. the ants and aphids. Easy battle for the coyote and badger right? The coyote spots his next tasty treat after taking a rest from hunting. He goes for the aphids and eats a few as then ants retreat them back to the safety of their burrows. This is when the badger comes in digging his sharp long claws into the grounds leaving the ants and aphids searching for a squirrel and this leaves the ants and aphids no other option, but to come to surface and then the coyote eats them all. The last win of Tag Team round one goes to the coyote and badger.

Round 1: Cat-e-Gory by Hannah Springer

The Category division consisted of non-cat animals who either look, sound, or have a “cat” in their name somewhere! There were a total of eight different matches that occured. The first math was the Sea Lion against the Wild Card winner. The Wild Card consisted of the Antlion and Tiger Beetle where the Antlion won by ripping off the tiger beetles leg. The Sea Lion is ranked 1st and the Antlion is ranked 16th. The Sea Lion accidentally crushed the Antlion which led the Sea Lion for the win! The next battle is the Bearcat (3) vs the Leopard Frog (14). Both of the animals are just hanging around when all of a sudden the Bearcat falls on the floor from hanging on a tree branch and crushes the leopard frog! This next battle is a time-consuming match with the Lion-Tailed Macaque (6) vs. Cat Snake (11) against each other. They continue to do their own thing where suddenly the Cat Snake doesn’t want to battle and leaves. Macaque for the win at last!

Next we have the Fisher Cat (4) vs. Tiger Salamander (13). The Fisher Cat doesn’t like to prey on fish and the Tiger Salamander feels right at home so quite the match. Fisher cat is busy searching for breakfast and spots the Tiger Salamander and throws it out of the way. Fisher cat for the win! Now for our next battle we have the Tiger Quoll (7) vs the Green Catbird (10) with them being in the same environmental range, this could be quite the match. Tiger Quoll notices a loud squeal and notices it is a catbird and jumps up and attacks it. Tiger Quoll for the win! We have a very close match coming up ahead of us. We have the Small Spotted Catshark (8) vs. the Stonecat (9). The Stonecat is trying to kill the Catshark with his venom… but the catshark has thick skin to survive this and bites the Stonecat which is a nice treat for him. Catshark for the win! Now we are coming to the end of the Round 1 Category division. We have the TIger Owl (5) vs. the Panther Chameleon (12). The Panther Chameleon can camouflage and the Tiger Owl has sharp teeth. Panther Chameleon goes out to find some food and Tiger Owl notices this movement and bites it with its sharp teeth. Finally, the match we have all been waiting for! We have the Nimravid (2) vs. Dandelion (15). The Nimravid is a very powerful animal but the dandelion has protections against itself. Nimravid spots the Dandelion and begins chewing on it and starts sneezing. He then rolls around on the ground, crushing dandelion for the win!

Round 1: Waterfalls - by Tyressa McManigal

The Waterfalls division is based off of animals that are adapted for aquatic systems, whether it is a lake, stream, or the ocean, they perform their best in the water system of their choosing. In Round 1 of Waterfalls we witnessed 5 battles where the higher seed won, and 3 upsets, with the Rakali, Moonrat, and Aquatic Genet. The Rakali advances by having a hunter shoot the White-Lipped Peccary, where as the Marine Otter slipped off a rock falling into the water getting killed by Orcas which in return advanced the Aquatic Genet. And, finally the Moonrat takes over the Crab-Eating Foxes’ den and marks her ammonia scent all over the den, while hissing and huffing and puffing to ward off the Crab-Eating Fox.

Round 2 Summary - Sadie Lamplot

In the Jump Jump Division in Round 2, we had the Bengal Tiger face the Bharal. TIgers makes a tasty meal out of the Bharal, Bengal Tiger for the win. Next, the Spinner Dolphin and 9-Banded Armadillo face off. Dolphin is struggling with nausea and intense pain from nearby ships. Armadillo takes a chance to kill for a claw strike. Dolphin recovers and wacks Armadillo with a tail strike and bites down. Dolphin for the win. Next, we have the WaterFalls Division, Round 2. First match was Moose vs. the Rakali. Both Moose and the Rakali race for safe grounds in fear to get eaten by wolves. Soon, Moose swims to safety, but Rakali’s lack of speed swimming makes it into a tasty snack for the Wolves. Moose for the win. Next, we have the Manatee vs. the Lowland Tapir. Swimming along the boat infested waters, the Manatee and Lowland Tapir search for food. They come face to face and scare each other. Tapir goes to the surface to escape, but is soon faced with death as a boat strikes it. Manatee for the win. Next we have the Tag Team Division, Round 2. The first match is the Zebra & Oxpecker vs. Crab & Sea Turtle. Crab & Sea Turtle are in unfamiliar territory and spot Zebra & Oxpecker. Oxpecker chirps, alarming the Zebra of the danger and Zebra stomps on Crab instantly killing it. Sea Turtle leaves the battlefield. Zebra & Oxpecker for the win. Next match is Coyote & Badger vs. Banded Mongoose & Warthog. WIth the victory beforehand that was a filling snack, Coyote & Badger have to energy to compete. Banded Mongoose & Warthog have a great amount of energy and beat them. Banded Mongoose & Warthog for the win. The final Division is Cat-e-Gory, Round 2. In the first match, Sea Lion faces off with the Tiger Owl. Sea Lion goes out searching for snacks. While Sea Lion is out hunting, Tiger Owl gets caught in goo and loses the energy to struggle and dies. Sea Lion for the win. The final match was between the Bearcat and Tiger Quoll. Tiger Quoll and Bearcat face off and battle for a little bit, then Bearcat climbs a tree to search for a different snack. Tiger Quoll for the win.