Tessera

Finally back at work and got my bracket…I’m totally framing this LEGENDARY WIN AND HIGH SCORE #2026M

AHHHHHH 10 years of playing #2026MMM I FINALLY PICKED A CHAMPION!!!!! #TeamHumpbackWhale

MAMA HUMPBACK WHALE DEFEATS NILE CROCODILE! HUMPBACK WHALE is #2026MMM CHAMPION! Artwork by @veppart.bsky.social & @opellisms.bsky.social !!!

LOL I just noticed “battle cetacean” #2026MMM Well played

AND HUMPBACK WHALES CHOOSE VIOLENCE! (Ford & Reeves 2008) #2026MMM

The Emperor says 'Now witness the fight power of this fully armed and operational battle cetacean.'

Goooo whale! #2026MMM

a man with a mustache says there be whales here in a dark room

ALT: a man with a mustache says there be whales here in a dark room

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The Championship Battle of #2026MMM: Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) vs. Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)! #2026MMM

Mama Humpback with baby swimming above her A WHOLE NEW WORLD!!!

#TardiGandalf and I enjoyed the Artemis launch and are now settling in for #2026MMM I’m #TeamHumpbackWhale but he’s all about that @mmm-mold.bsky.social #AltAdvance

Can’t even count the number of times I pull up the LibGuide during the tournament- so essential and well designed! #2026MMM

Can we get an exuberant round of applause for @grumpator.bsky.social & everyone at ASU Library for the March Mammal Madness LibGuide with Player, Learner, & Educator Portals & updating the RESULTS page each night & LIBRARY COLUMNS in the MMMagazine libguides.asu.edu/MarchMammalM... #2026MMM

#2026MMM #TeamHumpbackWhale

a man with a mustache says there be whales here in a dark room

ALT: a man with a mustache says there be whales here in a dark room

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HUMPBACK WHALE OUTLASTS AUROCHS!!!! #2026MMM

Lara Durgavich@ldurgavich.bsky.social · 5mo ago

WOOHOO #2026MMM #TeamHumpbackWhale Side note: The #StarTrek Whale connection + this win makes me feel a little tiny bit better after the sting of Starfleet Academy’s cancellation

HUMPBACK WHALE OUTLASTS HIPPO!!! #2026MMM

Mama whale angles down into deeper water with her calf swimming just above her back.

March Mammal Madness@mmmletsgo.bsky.social · 5mo ago

I predicted 7 of the Elite Trait, my bracket has never been this good! Somehow I’m doomed, I just know it. #2026MMM

SWEET 16 WINNERS: #2026MMM Steller's Sea Cow, Aurochs, Humpback Whale, Hippopotamus, Lions, Nile Crocodile, Honey Badger and Gila Monster! Please join us TOMORROW (3/26) at 8PM EST for the ELITE TRAIT!!

😭 good thing my kitty is snoozing, this is too much #carnage for him to bear #2026MMM

Dark Mane's canines bite through her skull & spine, dropping the small felid's now lifeless body to ground. Not even interested in eating the small felid, Dark Mane looks over at Torn Ear (Laurenson 1994) #2026MMM

👇🏻 can confirm I have a very happy indoor kitty

Better messaging is how cats being allowed outside increases INJURY, ILLNESS & EARLY DEATH OF THE CAT; that means higher vet bills & more heartbreak. ALSO well-managed #IndoorLife can improve cat well-being AND human-cat bonds! (Calver et al. 2026) #2026MMM

OK this is tough for me as a mold fan (hoping it shows up again!) and a cat owner. Hoping little kitty has the sense to run away (in a very dignified manner befitting his status, of course). Maybe second breakfast is calling… #2026MMM

LAST BATTLE OF THE NIGHT! 2-seed Lions (Panthera leo) vs. 6-seed Library Cat (Felis catus) #2026MMM

Really late to the party tonight but my champion is still in it! #TeamHumpbackWhale #2026MMM #AdmiralThereBeWhalesHere #StarTrek #TheOneWithTheWhales

HUMPBACK WHALE OUTLASTS INDIAN RHINO!!!! #2026MMM

This is like, Final Roar level shenanigans and sadness. Make it stop. #2026MMM

Startled Steller's Sea Cow rolls into the water, plunges Saudi gazelle into the last pulls of the outgoing tide where she drifts away. Forever. #2026MMM

Brian Tanis@tanisbp.bsky.social · 5mo ago

This is a tough one, I have Aurochs winning but I am *still* sad about Thylacine from the last time it was in MMM… #2026MMM

UP NEXT: 3-seed Aurochs (Bos primigenius) vs. 6-seed Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus)! #2026MMM

The Augsburg aurochs (from Smith 1827). This painting is a copy of the original that was present in Germany during the early nineteenth century. The original probably dates to the beginning of the sixteenth century. The painting depicts a cheery looking Aurochs, much like a modern bull cow. More distinctive are the thick body supported by little legs and the massive curved horns protruding from the head.

I finally took a picture of my lamprey poster on my classroom door! GO LAMPREY! #2026MMM

Pacific Lamprey OUTLASTS Common Chuckwalla #2026MMM

I may have spent 30 minutes today making this image for the opener at our next department meeting. The inspiration was that really cool picture of the giraffe chewing on a bone. #2026MMM (because you should always cite your sources, the original has a link to each individual post from the battle.)

Mauna Dasari@chumblebiome.bsky.social · 5mo ago

It’s an #AltAdvance in #TardiGandalf’s heart, fungal friend! #2026MMM

Paws that carry Torn Ear Lion's particular scent... and something else... MOLD HAS TAGGED ALONG ON THE LION'S PAW! #FungusAmongUs #LingeringIsNotAnAdvance (Golan & Pringle 2017) #2026MMM #2026mmm

Marc Kissel@marckissel.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Yes! My champion! #TeamHumpbackWhale #2026MMM

Humpback whales are the marathon moms of the Pacific. Each year they migrate thousands of miles to give birth in warm Hawaiian shallows. With 3-meter flippers and acrobatic rolls, they’re surprisingly graceful for 30 tons of muscle and milk-making power #2026MMM

A mom and baby whale. The baby is swimming next to the mom. They seem to be just below the surface of the water

You mean @natickbobcat.bsky.social can’t climb trees?!?! #2026MMM

One of the most adept canids at climbing trees, the semi-arboreal activities of Grey Fox allows earlier access to seasonal fruits AND an escape option from coyotes & bobcats (Chamberlain & Leopold 2005; Armenta-Méndez et al. 2018) #2026MMM

I may have interrupted The Roundup #2026MMM every time I showed it today, for a fast-talking tangent about Chincoteague Island! and the ponies! and the pony swim! and Misty and Stormy! And how a MMM battle has never occurred so close (ish, 100+ miles) to our school! *I* for one, was very excited.

pinkie pie from my little pony is swimming in the water

ALT: pinkie pie from my little pony is swimming in the water

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V Pellicer- looking for work!@veppart.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The art is 💯 again tonight, of course! #2026MMM #2026mmm

#2026MMM #2026mmm #BoneyardDivision #TeamBloodworm Art by Olivia Pellicer @opellisms.bsky.social

A half body illustration of a bristling bloodworm facing right, with orange-red text reading "BLOODWORM" in a dripping font

Marc Kissel@marckissel.bsky.social · 5mo ago

My very first year playing MMM, i was lurking around the bird place trying to figure out what was going on. After a series of snarky tweets with the Gila monster account, i was hooked on MMM internet trash talking 😂 #2026MMM #2026mmm

Last Up!!!: 3-seed Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum) vs 14-seed Siberian Salamander (Salamandrella keyserlingii) #2026MMM #2026mmm

Photo of 2 Gila Monster a lizard with prominent tan and black markings. The male and female are about the same size but the head of the male is larger

Misty!!!!! I DEVOURED these books as a kid. I was already a horse kid, growing up a few hours away, and it was easy to get obsessed. #2026MMM #2026mmm

Where once roamed MISTY, the only equine member of the American Library Association @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social! #2026MMM #2026mmm www.atlasobscura.com/places/misty...

Ooh yes I used to feed them to my horseshoe crabs (my state DNR used to have a horseshoe crabs in the classroom program)! #2026mmm #2026MMM

Folks who keep fish and amphibians may know bloodworms as frozen dark red cubes they feed their pets. Tonight's combatant is not that. It is a segmented, red marine worm that grows up to 14-inches long. Why is Glycera dibranchiata so metal? #2026MMM #2026mmm

Goooo lamprey! I should have taken a picture of the lamprey mouth poster I have on my classroom door- it’s very striking #2026mmm #2026MMM

Lamprey are NOT eels! They have life stages in freshwater and the ocean (anadromous). As adults, lamprey are parasitic. Their mouth of horrors allows them to attach to hosts to obtain nutrients (Clemens et al 2019) #2026MMM critfc.org/fish-and-wat...

Higgins, fierce predator that he is, is very excited about the potential #carnage tonight #2026mmm #2026MMM

Brian Tanis@tanisbp.bsky.social · 5mo ago

So excited about the return of Thylacine! #2026MMM

Next Up: #6-seed Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) vs. #11-seed Little Swan Island Hutia (Geocapromys thoracatus)!! #2026MMM

Lithographic plate by Henry Constantine Richter depicting of a pair of Thylacine standing in some grass. They appear very foxlike with long body and a tapered triangle face. The bodies appear a grayish tan, turning a bit reddish near the rear. Transverse stripes start midway along the back and progress further laterally at the hips. The background suggests the Thylacine are standing on a grassy opening near the coast, with forest in the background. Image from Gould, "Mammals of Australia", Vol. I Plate 54.