You Decide: What's the Deadliest Creature in the Animal Kingdom?

Final Update

We have a winner! The tiny mosquito proved to be mighty and defied the odds to win the inagural #LSAnimalMadness tournament. The mosquito narrowly edged out the king cobra, capturing just under 53 percent of the final votes. We would like to thank all of the more than 1,700 voters who participated in the tournament over the course of the past three weeks.

For the next three weeks Live Science will be looking to crown the true champion of the Animal Kingdom in a no-holds-barred, March Madness-style tournament. But we need your help in choosing which animal will reign supreme (scroll down to see how the animals stack up). To make your voice heard, check out the link below and vote for the animal you believe should win in each of our four divisions (Land, Air, Sea and Creepy-Crawly). The first round will start March 16 and the tournament will conclude April 6. Be sure to share your votes on social media using the hashtag #LSAnimalMadness and continue to check back for more updates on which animals advance to the second round.

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Round 1 is now over and we hope your bracket isn't busted — it truly was madness and we had plenty of upsets. The white rhino took down the king of the jungle and set itself up for a matchup with the polar bear in the Land division. The Sea division also had a major upset with the saltwater crocodile beating the whale shark. Now, the great white shark and the saltwater crocodile will meet in the Sea division final. The Air division will see a battle between the tiny mosquito and the peregrine falcon, while the Creepy Crawly division will put the king cobra against the deathstalker scorpion.

The Final Four is here! We had some close match-ups, but after counting the nearly 250 votes we received over the past few days, the final battles are set. The mighty polar bear narrowly beat the white rhino to be champion of the Land Division. The saltwater crocodile is champion of the Sea Division, beating the great white shark with 53.5 percent of the votes. The king cobra cruised to a victory in the Creepy Crawly Division, while the tiny mosquito continued its Cinderella run to the Final Four, beating the peregrine falcon with nearly 70 percent of the vote. For the next two days, you will be able to vote for the polar bear or the king cobra, and the mosquito or the saltwater crocodile, to see who go head-to-head in the finals (scroll down to see facts about these animals). The final matchup will be announced this Friday (April 3).

And then there were two! The final match-up is now set, and it will be the tiny but mighty mosquito facing off against the king cobra. The mosquito cruised to victory against the saltwater crocodile with two-thirds of the vote. The king cobra survived a much closer match-up against the polar bear, capturing 53 percent of the votes. The final round will run through Monday (April 3), and our champion will be crowned at 3:00 p.m. ET. Check back then for the official announcement, but in the meantime, keep voting!

You Decide: What's the Deadliest Creature in the Animal Kingdom?

Final Update

VIEW RESULTS

Round 1 Update

Round 2 Update

Round 3 Update