~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The EventEvery year, Arizona State University runs an event called March Mammal Madness. The premise is similar to March Madness in basketball; a standard single elimination bracket of 64 (give or take) mammals is created at the beginning of the month, and participants fill out the bracket based on which animal(s) they think would win in a fight. As March progresses, scientific resources are used along with each animal's traits, such as habitat range, temperament, and fighting style to determine winners for each round. Like standard single elimination tournaments, the winner moves on the the next round and the loser is out of the tournament.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The ContestOne of my friends introduced me to March Mammal Madness a few weeks ago (thanks Prim), and I figured it might be the sort of thing that y'all would enjoy. Participants will fill out the google form (see below) with their predicted winners of each fight. If you guess correctly, you get the point amount shown on the bracket, and you have the chance to score points in the next fight involving that creature. At the end of March Mammal Madness, whoever has scored the most points is the winner. Dufne thinks that a common cuttlefish can beat a bogue in a fight. The common cuttlefish does in fact defeat the bogue, and because she correctly chose the victor in a first-round fight, she gets one point. Dufne also thinks that a thylacine can defeat a monarch butterfly. However, the monarch butterfly defeats the thylacine. Dufne gets 0 points for this fight. In the next round of fights, the two previous victors (common cuttlefish and monarch butterfly) are pitted against each other. Dufne correctly predicts that the monarch butterfly wins, and because this is a second-round fight, Dufne scores an additional two points. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Prizes1st place (most total points at the end of the month): 200k2nd place (second most points): 100k3rd place: 50k Divison winners (most points scored from each of the Tiny Terrors, Double Trouble, Cats-ish vs. Dogs-ish, and AnthropoSCENE divisions): 25k each (up to 4 winners) Anyone who outscores me: 5k each (Yes, I'm participating too, but I can't win any prizes. Obviously. )~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Bracket Blank bracket: https://tinyurl.com/MMM2k20Bracket ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Contest Schedule I'll try to update the OP with each round's results as soon as possible, but I've been a busy boi lately, so it might not always happen. Hopefully, I'll never be more than two days behind. If I haven't published the results of a round and you're just dying to find out what happens, results should be posted by ASU here the morning after each round.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Submission Form: https://tinyurl.com/MMM2k20Form The deadline for submissions is March 9. Once the wild card fight has started, no more entries will be accepted.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Other Important Notes The link to the official March Mammal Madness webpage is https://libguides.asu.edu/MarchMammalMadness. One of the main reasons this contest exists is to serve as a learning opportunity. Feel free to fill out the bracket purely based on guessed, but a large part of the fun is learning about each animal and making guesses based off of that knowledge. Plus, if you don't do your research, you might not learn that another name for the Bogue is Boops Boops. During the first 4 rounds (including wild card), the fight will occur in the preferred biome/ecology of the higher seeded animal. However, in all future rounds (Elite Trait, Final Roar, Championship), the location of the fight will be randomly selected. The area where the fight occurs will have a very large impact on the outcome, so pay attention to that. Any injuries/statuses sustained during a fight carry on to future rounds. For instance, if the Raccoon Dog wins its first fight but hurts its leg during that fight, it will have to compete with that injured leg for the remainder of the tournament. If an animal hides or runs away during a fight, it is considered a forfeit. It is highly recommended that you fill out the bracket before inputting your predictions into the form. This makes it much harder to make a mistake while trying to keep track of all your predictions. Lastly, and above all else, have fun! If you have any questions, feel free to check the page or ask me. I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out!
Huh, interesting! I'd never heard of it. What? It's perfectly legible. You posted a bit late, I've got to say! Especially because this seems a bit much to do at once, providing you aren't guessing. Question: are there any more questions after the second page (on the first page you just enter your name) of the form? I won't fill in the form until I've got guessed answers to all of the questions, but I want to make sure I won't be surprised by a lot of unexpected questions.
There are six total pages: One that has the bracket and your name, four with the answers to each of the four divisions, and one at the end with three last questions. I forgot to mention that it is highly recommended that you fill out the bracket before inputting your predictions into the form. I'll add that to the OP now.
Definitely will enter--this looks awesome and WAY more fun than March Madness. A few questions though. If you include the wild card round, "Elite Trait" is the 4th round; does the high seeded animal get home-field advantage in that round or not? Second, why are so many animals in the last two brackets not... mammals? I get the clever name of the Double Trouble bracket, but they couldn't have found more applicable mammals for the fourth one at least? Very confusing, haha.
From the website: "In the early rounds the battle location is in the preferred habitat of the better-ranked combatant in the battle, and ecology can play a huge role in what happens. Once to the Elite Trait, the battle location is random among 4 ecologies for the remaining battles." I probably miscounted, so for clarification, terrain starts being randomized during the Elite Trait round. As for the mammals, I have no idea what you're talking about. Fish, butterflies, and amoebas are 100% mammals.
Bump! The weekend is here, so what better time to fill out the bracket? The first round starts in two days, so get your submissions in while you still can!
Bump, one more day to enter! There are only two entries so far, so if someone else enters, they are guaranteed to win at least 50k, even if it's by blindly guessing.
Alright, I have not had the time to properly look into this, but with so few entrants, I suppose I'll fill it out really quick. Edit: Well, 'really quick' didn't turn out to be possible, even when guessing, as I had to know what were possible answers for the questions that weren't explicitly multiple-choice. But I finished it. I am curious about the rest of this event! I just have been quite busy. :$
Glad to see a few more entries trickling in. That being said, it is March 9, and entries are now closed due to the first round having occurred. What? The first round happened? I'm glad you asked... Results are synthesized from here. TONIGHT THE WILDCARD: Grandidier's "Mongoose" (Galidictis grandidieri) versus the Pygmy Spotted Skunk (Spilogale pygmaea)! Since this is the wild-card, neither combatant had automatic claim to home habitat advantage but Grandider's "mongoose" won the coin toss. (Yes, I know I messed this up. Sorry.) Tonight's battle takes place in the dry spiny tropical forest and shrubland of Tsimanampetsotsa Reserve in Madagascar, which includes the saline (AKA, salty!) Lake Tsimanampetsotsa. We find both combatants trotting about as they nocturnally forage for small invertebrates after sunset. Pygmy spotted skunk is searching for insect larvae & millipedes, while Grandidier's "mongoose" is hunting cockroaches. All of a sudden, the pygmy skunk is startled by loud angry hissing! Nearby, Grandidier's "mongoose" has cornered a giant Hissing Madagascan Cockroach. With her massive skull & strong crushing teeth, Grandidier's "mongoose" chomps down on the cockroach's head... ...and gets blasted by a startled skunk's spray! Eyes burning from the chemical defense of the skunk, Grandidier's "Mongoose" darts away, jaws clasping her delicious dinner, quitting the field of battle. Pygmy Spotted Skunk defeats Grandidier's "Mongoose"! Victor: Pygmy Spotted Skunk Current scores: 607: 0 jacob5089: 0 Hashhog: 0 luckycordel: 0 Unless anyone objects, I'll be posting individual scores at the end of each round so y'all can keep tabs on each other. Please let me know if you don't want your scores publicized. Next round: Dogs-ish vs. Cats-ish division, March 11
Oh my, you'd better. Our competition is really running away with the lead there after this round–gotta watch that.
Dang it... with the knowledge that the first few rounds give ecological advantage to the higher seed, I went all in on the Caspian Seal picking an aquatic setting and easily progressing until it was forced to fight elsewhere. Looks like I'm going to lose some big points on the Dogs-Ish vs. Cats-Ish bracket. Though I also have a major upset planned to carry through in that particular bracket (as in all the way to the championship)... honestly, a lot rides on the fates aligning from here on out in Dogs-Ish vs. Cats-Ish.
