I'm not sure what my favorite animal is. Let's decide it by a market! This March Mammal Madness inspired game will play out in phases. Aside from the Setup phase, expect each phase to last about a day or two, but I reserve the right to speed up the clock as I deem fit.
Setup phase:
Traders add animals to the market. After the setup phase is complete, traders will no longer be able to add animals to the market. Expect this phase to end some point after this other market resolves. Traders can add as many eligible animals as they wish to the market. To be eligible, add a real, non-microscopic, non-Homo-genus animal by following the provided formatting:
[common name] - [scientific name]
Example: Goldfish - Carassius auratus
A subspecies can be specified, but new animals must have a unique genus + species compares to all other animals already listed.
Selection phase:
The animal with the highest probability (the “Frontrunner”) and the lowest probability (the “Underdog”) will be selected to do battle. I will declare when the approximate cutoff time for when this selection is.
Discussion phase:
Traders can convince me why an animal should win the match up. DO NOT paste an AI / LLM output in the comments. However, I might read an AI / LLM conversation if you paste a link to it.
Battle phase:
The selected animals will appear on “The Field of Battle” in my imagination, but the animals won't necessarily feel that they are supposed to fight each other. At the very least, one should notice the other one.
By default, “The Field of Battle” will be the native habitat of the “Underdog”, and the boundaries of "The Field of Battle" will vary at my discretion. If the probabilities were miraculously a tie, the default habitat would be decided by a coin toss. Other animals may also be present as part of the habitat.
An animal wins the battle if they are last to be incapacitated, or if they are last to be capable of moving (for approximately 10 seconds), or if the other contender flees “The Field of Battle”. I myself will be the sole judge of how this plays out.
If the result doesn't seem manifestly obvious to me, I will use these attributes to guide my decision: temperament, weaponry, armor, body mass, speed, fight style, physiology, and motivation, all relative to the battle's habitat.
I will not take kindly to bribes. Don't even try.
I expect many matches to end by asphyxiation or by an animal wandering off. They won't know where the boundaries are, and they won't know they are in a tournament. They just want to survive and thrive.
Clarification comment on handling lifecycle morphology and parasitism.
If an animal loses a battle, it will be marked as "defeated". If an animal wins a battle, that animal will continue on in the tournament, and that animal will have its memory wiped of the battle. We loop back to the Selection phase after a Battle phase if we're not at the last animal. The last animal on the market that isn't defeated and isn't ineligible resolves YES. All others, NO. "Other" will not resolve YES, but it may be a useful answer during the Setup phase. I cannot resolve market answers until the game is over.
I will award at least 100 mana to the person who adds the animal that wins this tournament. I guarantee no refund of your mana if you add an ineligible animal.
Medals:
🥉: Battles won as Underdog
🥈: Battles won as Frontrunner
🥇: Won a battle while 10 or fewer animals remain. (This is awarded instead of a bronze or silver medal.)
Dashboard to derivative markets
There will be no AI clarifications added to this market's description.
I will not trade on this market.
The close date is a placeholder and has no bearing on this market.
This will be a very subjective market. Expect that something will be scuffed, and I will have to fix things on the fly.
1,000People are also trading
Battle phase #28!
@prismatic with the Frontrunner
Axolotl - Ambystoma mexicanum
Vs.
@vi with the Underdog
Great black-backed gull - Larus marinus
Habitat: A beach
The axolotl finds itself on the salty shores of a beach in the northern hemisphere. It being a freshwater animal, it's not having a good time here.
The gull is flying overhead and spots the axolotl! Curious of what it finds, it takes landing near it. The axolotl is generally helpless. The gull pecks at it, and quickly finds that this is, indeed, edible.
It pecks hunks of flesh out of the axolotl. If the axolotl can get away, it can likely regenerate this damage with its uncanny ability to regenerate limbs and even body parts like eyes. Unfortunetely, this axolotl is lunch for the gull, and is plucked at over and over by the gull. At times, this gull if fended off by another gull that swoops in for a few pecks at the axolotl, and these gulls go back and forth at "sharing" this spoil, but the axolotl is surely done for.
The great black-backed gull wins by a manifestly obvious victory!
---Places I went for research---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl
Can regenerate limbs and organs, even vital organs like the heart or even brain!
Grow bigger during the entirety of their lifetime, but it slows over time.
"The axolotl is native to the freshwater Lakes Xochimilco and Chalco in the Valley of Mexico (though the species may have also inhabited the larger Lakes of Texcoco and Zumpango)."
"Overall, the wild axolotl prefers a system of water channels and deep-water lakes with abundant aquatic vegetation."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFkIG9S2Mmg
They do have an "adult" salamander land-form, but don't typically undergo that metamorphosis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKUJ0ujckyg
I somewhat understand this video because of the Spanish classes I took in school, but I think I got the gist of it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_black-backed_gull
This gull lives in many places.
"Great black-backed gulls are opportunistic feeders, apex predators of the oceanic sky, and are very curious. They will investigate any small organism they encounter and will readily eat almost anything that they can swallow."
I'm convinced it will eat an axolotl if it finds one.
Mating season starts in March or April -- now! This is the purple section of the map above.
Can live alongside humans. Not as a "party member," of course, but in the same environment.
A few wildlife shots:
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Discussion phase #28!
@prismatic with the Frontrunner
Axolotl - Ambystoma mexicanum
Vs.
@vi with the Underdog
Great black-backed gull - Larus marinus
Discuss!
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Battle phase #28!
@prismatic with the Frontrunner
Axolotl - Ambystoma mexicanum
Vs.
@vi with the Underdog
Great black-backed gull - Larus marinus
Habitat: A beach
The axolotl finds itself on the salty shores of a beach in the northern hemisphere. It being a freshwater animal, it's not having a good time here.
The gull is flying overhead and spots the axolotl! Curious of what it finds, it takes landing near it. The axolotl is generally helpless. The gull pecks at it, and quickly finds that this is, indeed, edible.
It pecks hunks of flesh out of the axolotl. If the axolotl can get away, it can likely regenerate this damage with its uncanny ability to regenerate limbs and even body parts like eyes. Unfortunetely, this axolotl is lunch for the gull, and is plucked at over and over by the gull. At times, this gull if fended off by another gull that swoops in for a few pecks at the axolotl, and these gulls go back and forth at "sharing" this spoil, but the axolotl is surely done for.
The great black-backed gull wins by a manifestly obvious victory!
---Places I went for research---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl
Can regenerate limbs and organs, even vital organs like the heart or even brain!
Grow bigger during the entirety of their lifetime, but it slows over time.
"The axolotl is native to the freshwater Lakes Xochimilco and Chalco in the Valley of Mexico (though the species may have also inhabited the larger Lakes of Texcoco and Zumpango)."
"Overall, the wild axolotl prefers a system of water channels and deep-water lakes with abundant aquatic vegetation."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFkIG9S2Mmg
They do have an "adult" salamander land-form, but don't typically undergo that metamorphosis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKUJ0ujckyg
I somewhat understand this video because of the Spanish classes I took in school, but I think I got the gist of it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_black-backed_gull
This gull lives in many places.
"Great black-backed gulls are opportunistic feeders, apex predators of the oceanic sky, and are very curious. They will investigate any small organism they encounter and will readily eat almost anything that they can swallow."
I'm convinced it will eat an axolotl if it finds one.
Mating season starts in March or April -- now! This is the purple section of the map above.
Can live alongside humans. Not as a "party member," of course, but in the same environment.
A few wildlife shots:
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@wolf @Bayesian @GazDownright @digory @moobunny @TheAllMemeingEye @Gen @121 @100Anonymous @vi
Discussion phase #27!
@prismatic with the Frontrunner
Dog - Canis familiaris
Vs.
@spiderduckpig with the Underdog
Kiwi - Apteryx australis
🐶 🥝 Discuss!
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@wolf @Bayesian @GazDownright @digory @moobunny @TheAllMemeingEye @Gen @121 @100Anonymous @vi
@prismatic Dog breed "character select"? (The dog probably won't get a human companion because it does not get to fight on its home turf.)
@Quroe it seems likely that the dog will win again. https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/kiwi
See the section where they say that kiwis are not evolved to escape from mammal predators.
@Quroe I was about to to give a link to kangaroos fighting dogs, but then I checked the discussion comment and realized it was actually a kiwi as underdog, but surprisingly there are better sources for kiwis than kangaroos.
Battle phase #27!
@prismatic with the Frontrunner
Dog - Canis familiaris
Vs.
@spiderduckpig with the Underdog
Kiwi - Apteryx australis
Habitat: A New Zealand forest, night time
The Jack Russel Terrier finds itself in a forest. It's not terribly moist or thickly vegetated. Think of a forest you would enjoy going on a hike in. However, this encounter takes place during nightfall -- kiwis are active at night, and they have the home field advantage.
The terrier thinks like a hunting dog. They are bred specifically for hunting red foxes, so many skills will translate to this encounter. A kiwi is rummaging around for food in the dirt nearby. The terrier hears the forceful exhalations of the kiwi. The kiwi's nostrils are at the end of its long beak, so it has to keep those tubes clear by forcefully blowing its nose. The kiwi is spotted by the terrier!
The terrier bolts for the kiwi. The kiwi doesn't have the best reflexes to this approaching threat in the brush, but it begins to turn tail and scamper. The terrier is much faster and catches up to the kiwi. It's not terribly hindered by the darkness. It gains on it, then grabs purchase on the flightless bird.
The kiwi is really vulnerable to crushing force. It evolved in a way that didn't give it much physical defense against natural predators, mostly because its environment didn't have any until invasive species and humans entered their environment.
The terrier proudly boasts its prize in its mouth. The kiwi is helpless and has taken lethal damage from the terrier's bite. With its hunting instincts satisfied, the terrier has easily won this by a manifestly obvious victory.
---Places I went for research---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Russell_Terrier
High energy
Originally bred to flush foxes out of their dens for hunting sport. (Notable if ever set up to battle the red fox.)
"The red fox is the traditional quarry of the Jack Russell terrier"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31W1kZh5Z1w
Highly intelligent
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_(bird)
Flightless
They smell good. As in, they have a good sense of smell and can detect prey by smell better than sight, especially for prey that lives underground.
https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/kiwi
"Because they did not evolve with any mammal predators around, kiwis lack the appropriate anti-mammal predatory response; kiwi chicks are vulnerable to nonnative predators like domestic cats and dogs, as well as stoats, weasels, ferrets, and rats."
"Despite its small size and awkward appearance, the kiwi can outrun a human and is quite wary."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABTfc5wUT1U
Poor eyesight
Being bitten by a dog will likely result in lethal crushing damage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-AUegcokEM
Mostly nocturnal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHnu9mBuj6c
Adorably derpy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTzORvV6_fw
Wow, that really is a lack of a predator response!
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@Quroe RIP birb.
The kiwi's nostrils are at the end of its long beak, so it has to keep those tubes clear by forcefully blowing its nose.
Didn't know this fun little fact. Interesting!
Discussion phase #26!
@wolf with the Frontrunner
Red Fox - Vulpes vulpes
Vs.
@1bets with the Underdog
Giant Dragonfly - Meganeuropsis permiana
Who let the dogs foxes out? Discuss!
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@wolf @Bayesian @GazDownright @digory @moobunny @TheAllMemeingEye @Gen @121 @100Anonymous @vi
@Quroe Dragonflies have what 98% kill ratio, or was it 80% ? Sure it was high, and had an 8. Dragonfly's also can hover like hummingbirds, like everybody knows. I can definitely see the dragonfly "buzzing" the fox. Often do to me. Whether that is enough to spook the fox is an interesting question.
@Quroe No, I didn't get them either. Actually I think probably the links in that article may be more relevant than the article itself.
@Quroe for what it is worth, ai infocapsule only suggests slow moving creepy crawlies as food for fox, not sure about foxes reflexes. My image is stalk, chase, and pounce, rather than reflex reactions. Could be wrong.
@JussiVilleHeiskanen Also, my image of a fox is mostly attacking from above. Don't know if it's paws can reach up high into the air.
@JussiVilleHeiskanen For what it's worth, I have not done my deep dive yet.
That being said, we know one must notice the other as a canon event. Whether or not they would want to directly engage is another thing.
Battle phase #26!
@wolf with the Frontrunner
Red Fox - Vulpes vulpes
Vs.
@1bets with the Underdog
Giant Dragonfly - Meganeuropsis permiana
Habitat: A prehistoric river in a forest
The red fox finds itself in a prehistoric world. The atmosphere is rich in oxygen. This gives the red fox a heightened sense of its surroundings in the short term, but this will begin to take a toll on its body if it continues to exist in this time period for a few more days.
The giant dragonfly zips up and down the river in search of prey. It spots the red fox! It's a bit bigger than its usual prey, but it flits a little closer to further examine the fox.
The fox hears the intense buzzing of the nearby dragonfly, and it's immediately set on alert.
The dragonfly zooms up closer to the fox to size it up and see if it is capable of feeding on it.
The fox is equally quick thinking. It might also be able to kill the dragonfly and eat it. The fox pounces at the giant dragonfly in an attempt to smack it out of the air. The dragonfly has much faster reflex times and backs off easily enough.
The fox begins to see this as a sort of game. It winds up for a playful pounce -- a second chance at a giant insect meal. It pounces, and misses once more.
The dragonfly realizes this is not easy prey, and one wrong move could be fatal. It zips away in search of an easier meal. It's better to disengage and go find more of its usual helpless prey.
The fox wins!
---Places I went for research---
See previous Red Fox research here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meganeuropsis
Okay, so it's big, but not quite as big as I had originally pictured in my head. I need to recalibrate my expectations.
Beware of AI images.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wQLKMUWANg
Hightened oxygen levels!
I recall from previous research that I had done that increased oxygen levels will be a boon for air-breathing animals in the short term. It increass their awareness. However, it causes chronic stress damage over the course of days or weeks of exposure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixlQX7lV8dc
This video seems to suggest they can eat other animals on the size order of frogs, along with a side-eyed joke about possibly being able to eat small children.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRVW-MPKauQ
Fly at over 40 mph
Predator
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