Cosmos
Cosmos is a quarterly science magazine. We aim to inspire curiosity in ‘The Science of Everything’ and make the world of science accessible to everyone.
By Cosmos
In a shock result, last year’s top 3 contender, the Mountain Pygmy Possum, has been caught asleep at the vote, and has been knocked out. This delightful handful of fur – darling of the possum parade, and with its habitat reduced to only a small area in the Australia Alps – is always a crowd favourite, so it’s with a heavy heart we say pip pip ooroo, possum.
Now you’ve got just 22 hours to vote for your favourite in the Top 4, after which we’ll remove the lowest-rated mammal, clear the tallies and announce the Top 3 at 12pm AEST tomorrow. Get behind our mammals and give them a shoutout to your friends and family to ensure they make it into the final round of voting!
Remember, we’ll be scrutineering the votes and blocking any IPs spamming the competition so that, like last year, mischievous stackers can’t guaranteed their mammal’s place with anomalous voting.
In no particular order, here’s our Top 4!
Dingo (Canis dingo or Canis familiaris)
Our charismatic but controversial canid made it to the Top 10 with 32.6% of the vote in “Snow Patrol: Alpine Adventurers”.
Australian fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus)
Having placed second in “Under the Sea: Marine Marvels”, unlike last year, the Australian fur seal collected enough votes overall to make it to the Top 10. They are the largest of all fur seals in the world, with females weighing 78kg and males 220-360kg.
Gilbert’s Potoroo (Potorous gilbertii)
The Gilbert’s Potoroo secured 56.5% of support in in “Woodland Wanderers”. After missing from the records for 120 years and thought extinct, they came “back from the dead” when rediscovered in 1994.
Golden-tipped bat (Phoniscus papuensis)
The golden-tipped bat made a glittering impression on voters with almost half of the votes in “The Cool South: Forest Fossickers”. They roost in the bottom of suspended bird nests, excising a chamber below the nest where they happily freeload.
How does voting work?
“But how does voting work?” you may ask. Don’t worry, it’s super simple.
Voting has now begun for the Top 4 and will remain open until 10am AEST tomorrow, Monday 21 August.
Then, at 12pm AEST we’ll announce the mammal that has received the least votes and has been knocked out of the running.
We’ll set the tally back to zero and open up voting for the Top 3 for the final time, crowning Australia’s Mammal of the Year on Thursday 24 August!