Tracking this division led us to some unexpected places...like the library. We found ourselves
studying ancient Greek, Arabic, and Egyptian myths to learn about the contenders' names.
Would this connection lead us to the trail of the true March Mammal Madness champion? Follow us
as we investigate the Mystery Of Myths and Monsters.
It is the battle of the small but mighty!
The ghost bat is only 0.32 stoats in length. The thorny devil, meanwhile, is 0.62 stoats in length.
As the sun set in Western Australia, the thorny devil finished its dinner of ants and headed for
its burrow. Suddenly, with a plop, it fell into a PVC pipe pitfall trap used by researchers!
The ghost bat heard the scuffle and swooped. The thorny devil ducked, but to no avail. The ghost bat struck, decapitating the devil.
The white-winged vampire bat was transported to Tanzania. It could not find a cave, so rested
under a branch. Along came the chimpanzee, gathering building materials for a nest, and startled the bat. ["Ahhhh!"]
The bat bit the chimpanzee's finger, then flew away - and was immediately grabbed and eaten
by a nearby blue monkey. The chimpanzee is bloodied, but advances.
March Mammal Magic deposited the fire salamander on the edge of a pond in Madagascar during the
Late Cretaceous Period. The salamander began to scurry for cover when - SLURP! - the devil frog flicked
out its tongue, trapping the salamander, reeling it in, and transferring it to the frog's belly [burping noises]
In ancient Egypt both Anubis and Set were gods. In even more ancient Egypt,
the desert was still a swamp, teeming with wildlife. From one direction, the masrasector nanubis chased
its prey. From the other direction, the cryptkeeper wasp flew, looking for a place to lay her eggs.
They converged near a tree, where a prehistoric lemur looked down on them and squealed in terror. [squealing noises]
The masrasector's prey bolted, and the masrasector chased it - right
off the field of battle! In a stunning upset, the cryptkeeper wasp wins! [Sound of Crypt Keeper cackle]
Night fell in Costa Rica, and the flying dragon lizard was headed to hide out in a nearby tree.
She accidentally stepped on the jumping pit viper at the base. The pit viper
was not amused, and struck, pumping venom into the lizard and cutting off the thread of its life.
The black and red bush squirrel found itself high in the treetops. So far, so good!
But they heard a great ruckus below, and looked down to see...mandrills! Hundreds of mandrills!
The squirrel panicked. Mandrills began chasing the squirrel
and surrounded it. The squirrel was caught in a dead end.
Literally. There was carnage. The sphinx monkey moves on.
The Goliath Beetle may be mighty, but it ran into the dreaded - all together now - home habitat
advantage. it was transported to the very edge of the harpy eagle's nest, high in the trees.
It looked around. It prepared to leave the scene... but was promptly impaled by the harpy eagle
landing directly on top of it. ["Well, what do you know?"] The oblivious harpy eagle advances.
MC, have i got a tail for you! I'm in Indonesia, home of the blue-capped ifrit.
The Brussels Griffon got here and was having trouble breathing at this altitude, but then
it saw the ifrit's nest on a really low branch. The Brussels Griffon climbed up the tree and chomped
at the ifrit. But! The ifrit's feathers are toxic! The Griffon went all rigid and fell off of the
tree branch. When it hit the ground, the Brussels Griffon's eye actually popped out of its socket!
Waaaaaaah!!!
The ifrit got away, and the dog ran off one-eyed, and wow, the ifrit seems to have won!
And now, the first round of battles is over. Our list of suspects has been cut in half, down to 32.
What mysteries will happen next? Join us as we investigate! I am MC Marmot.
This is the Mystery of March Mammal Madness! Thank you for watching.