If you ever took a biology class in your freshman year, then there’s a decent chance you remember spending a week researching whether a honey badger could survive a gnat, or were staring at a bracket trying to decide if a shrew beats a crocodile. That was March Mammal Madness, and it was probably one of the more fun things that happened in that class.
It’s currently ongoing, and unless you’re taking environmental science, you’re probably not doing it anymore…
What is it?
March Mammal Madness is a 64-animal tournament run by scientists and professors at Arizona State University, where their research determines the winner. Each matchup is simulated by a team of biologists drawing on studies of body mass, speed, behavior, and habitat. The results drop online each night with live narrative play-by-plays.
It began in 2013 and, by 2019, had reached roughly 1% of all high school students in the U.S. The classes using it now tend to be those where research skills are part of the curriculum, such as APES and certain biology electives. Physics classes? Not so much. This makes sense, but it also means many students who did this in their freshman year haven’t thought about it since.
What’s Happening This Year?
This year is already underway, with the first round results final across all four divisions: That’s So Metal, Extinction is Forever, Library Legends, and Money Mammals.
Each division’s top seeds are the heavy favorites, the way a 1-seed is supposed to be in any bracket. That said, the history of this tournament is basically a history of upsets. In 2015, a 14th-seeded numbat – a small termite-eating marsupial from Australia – knocked out the 3rd-seeded ‘Quokka’. Also, in 2014, a pangolin forfeited before its match even started because the simulation had it captured by poachers, which is sadly real. Nonetheless, do research before locking in your picks, because favorites don’t always win.
Results get posted nightly on YouTube, and the Championship is on April 1st. The bracket is free, anyone can enter, and everything you need is at libguides.asu.edu/MarchMammalMadness. Your class doesn’t have to be doing it for you to follow along!
