Mammal March Madness is an alternate March Madness tournament focusing on simulated combat between non-human mammals, instead of college basketball. The bracket is run by a team of evolutionary biologists, using science and probability to determine the outcomes of the fights. The goal of Mammal March Madness is to provide a fun and exciting way to spread scientific knowledge about the competing animals, as well as awareness for animal conservation.
Contents
History
March Mammal Madness dates back to 2013, when founder Katie Hinde discovered a Buzzfeed Animal Madness bracket online. She was disappointed to find it only contained 16 animals and that the outcomes were based solely on their cuteness, rather than science. In response she created Mammal March Madness, containing a 64 animal bracket with the goal of mixing fun narrated battles with scientific research of the many species involved.
Katie Hinde, an assistant professor of human evolution at Harvard, later brought in three other educators to help her organize the event. This includes assistant professor at Boston University School of Medicine Kristi Lewton, lecturer at Columbia University Joshua Drew, and assistant professor at Dominican University Christopher Anderson. Along with these educators, the artist Charon Henning provides artwork of the various mammal competitors throughout the whole tournament. Together, they heavily research all of the combatants, using what they learn to provide an entertaining and informative experience.
In 2017, more educators were added on to the March Mammal Madness team to help with the competition. This includes Ph.D. student at the University of Notre Dame Mauna Disari, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Notre Dame Dr. Marc Kissel, post-doctoral researcher and instructor at the University of Utah Dr. Patrice Kurnath Connors, visiting assisting professor for the department of biological sciences at Southern Illinois University Dr. Danielle Lee, and associate professor and curator of mammals at the Texas A&M University Dr. Jessica Light. Two other educators were added to tweet about genetics, genomics, and the phylogeny of the various mammals participating. This includes Dr. Anne Stone of the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and Dr. Melissa Wilson-Sayres from the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University.
Bracket
The bracket itself is modeled after the NCAA championship, including an Elite Eight and a Final Four. The bracket is divided into four divisions, which change yearly. The 64 animals are chosen and put into the various divisions based on their characteristics. In the 2015 bracket, the chosen divisions were Mighty Mini Mammals, Mythical Mammals, Critically Endangered Mammals, and Sexy Beasts. Mammals such as the dwarf mongoose and the Java mouse-deer were chosen for the Mighty Mini Mammals, while legendary beasts such as Ratatoskr and the Yeti battled it out in the Mythical Mammals. The mammals compete against others in their division, eventually working their way down to the Final Four (one from each division), and finally the championship.
Battles
The battles are decided by a mix of scientific research, and an element of chance. Katie Hinde and the Mammal March Madness organizing team do in-depth research on the mammal contestants. Temperament, diet, social behavior, environment, size, and fight style are just a few of the factors that are taken into consideration. After these factors are weighed against each other, Hinde and the rest determine probability of one animal defeating another. This is how they develop the seed, or rank, of each mammal. Then a 100 sided die is rolled with a determined percentage numbers attributed to each animal. This adds an element of chance, since out in nature nothing is 100% guaranteed. For the first round, each fight takes place in the environment of the higher seeded animal. After that, it is chosen at random.
Combining research with an element of chance has led to some major upsets, just like with any sports bracket. In round one of the 2015 Mighty Mini Mammal division, the 14th-seeded numbat defeated the 3rd-seed quokka. The research is then used to create a narrative to explain the loss. The narratives can range from a serious battle, to humorous happenstance. In 2014, research showed the pangolin to be the most trafficked animal on the planet. Before the match even began, the pangolin was captured by poachers and shipped away, forfeiting the fight. Each round has a scheduled day and time, found on Katie Hinde's blog, Mammals Suck... Milk!.
Instead of just announcing the winners, the written narratives are live-tweeted like the match was happening that very moment. Fans can follow along and tweet back using the designated Mammal March Madness hashtag, creating a fun and exciting atmosphere where people can learn about the animals they support.
In 2017, the wildcard match was performed as a live-action movie to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the tournament. The wildcard match was also done with four mammal competitors instead of the usual two. Members of the March Mammal Madness team dressed up as the competing mammals and acted out the battle in front of a green screen. The battle was then edited together and the final video was tweeted out during the first day of the 2017 March Mammal Madness season.
Past battle outcomes
All past battle outcomes and play by plays of the battles can be found on Mammals Suck… Milk!.
All tables begin with round two, after the first elimination. If no animals advanced the cell is grey, if the animal was the champion the cell is gold.
2013
Divisions: Carnivores, Primates, Grazers and Browsers, and Hodge Podge
Animals who did not advance to round two: ferret, wolverine, leopard, meerkat, coyote, fennec fox, Tasmanian devil, island fox, dik-dik, camel, wildebeest, gerenuk, reindeer, gazelle, giraffe, duiker, shrew, anteater, wombat, ground squirrel, capybara, sugar glider, red panda, tenrec, naked mole rat, dusky titi monkey, rhesus macaque, lemur catta, bush baby, capuchin, tamarin, red colobus, marmoset.
2014
Divisions: Social Mammals, Marine Mammals, Who In The What Now, and Fossil Mammals
Animals who did not advance to round two: titi monkey, dingo, meerkat, beaver, marmot, bush dog, hyrax, bandicoot, fisher, saki, Sunda colugo, pangolin, echidna, olinguito, mara, A. afarensis, A. sediba, dire wolf, aurochs, giant giraffid, megalania, rhino wombat, giant baboon, Godzilla platypus, sea otter, beluga whale, harbor seal, river dolphin, hooded seal, ringed seal, narwhal, manatee.
2015
Divisions: Mighty Minis, Critically Endangered, Mythical Mammals, and Sexy Beasts
Animals who did not advance to round two: jerboa, bumblebee bat, tent-making bat, pygmy mouse lemur, least weasel, pygmy possum, quokka, social tuco-tuco, dormouse, Kanko, Pegasus, Pooka, Ichneumon, Water Horse, Greek Sphinx, Kishi, Colo Colo, yellow-bellied marmot, bighorn sheep, olive baboon, vervet monkey, bongo, koala, Irish elk, European hare, silver pika, black dorcopsis, cloud rat, Siau Island tarsier, Javan slow loris, riverine rabbit, saola, Sibree's dwarf lemur.
2016
Divisions: Cold-Adapted Mammals, Mighty Giants, Mammal Mascots, and Mammals of the Nouns. For the mascot mammal bracket, the university and the mammal the mascot represents are linked separately.
Mammals who did not advance to round two: lemming, snow monkey, caribou, snowshoe hare, Antarctic fur seal, stoat, vicuña, siberian chipmunk, Haverford squirrel, Schoolcraft College Ocelots, Santa Clara bronco, Penn State mountain lions, Lethbridge pronghorn, Naval Academy goat, Texas A&M javelina, Yale bulldog, Thor hero shrew, giant cloud rat, giant elephant shrew, giant otter shrew, greater dwarf lemur, giant armadillo, giant flying squirrel, giant mole rat, shrew of the water, viscacha of the mountain, rabbit of the volcano, pocket gopher of the mountain, dog of the prairie, baby of the bush, cat of the sand, vole of the bank
2017
Divisions: Adjective Mammals, Coulda Shoulda, Desert Adapted, and Two Animals One Mammal (season in progress)
Animals who did not advance to round two: snow leopard, fisher, rhesus macaque, sac-winged bat, long-tailed pangolin, burrowing bettong, hairy-nosed wombat, bat-eared fox, red squirrel, brown-throated sloth, silky anteater, southern marsupial mole, meerkat, patas monkey, marbled polecat, bilby, long-eared hedgehog, sand cat, jerboa, giant red flying squirrel, lion, leopard, fossil baboon, dire wolf, giant armadillo, Irish elk, quokka, shrew mole, raccoon dog, otter civet, kangaroo rat, mouse opossum, deer mouse, squirrel monkey, grasshopper mouse