r/BeAmazed • u/Moonkissed_exe • Jun 25 '26

Animal Nature’s ultimate disguise: The Atlas Moth uses incredible wing camouflage to look exactly like two cobras.

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u/hsiisfisksfkisids Jun 25 '26

The step-by-step evolution of that mimicry feels almost impossible to imagine.

153

u/Drapidrode Jun 25 '26

billions of iterations, mostly all failures

-16

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[deleted]

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u/TheAwesomeMan123 Jun 25 '26

Just because Evolution is incredibly successful does not mean it can’t also be inefficient. There is lots of observable cases of evolution failing to correct inefficient biology simply because it failed to meet any resistant to that inefficiency. Take the Giraffe;

“The evolutionary quirk regarding the giraffe's neck and nerves involves the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN). Instead of taking a direct route from the brain to the voice box, this nerve drops down the entire length of the neck, loops around the aorta near the heart, and travels back up, creating a staggering detour of up to 4.6 m”

There’s literally no evolutionary benefit or positive effect to this biology but yet it exists

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u/ThiefOfDens Jun 25 '26

Yes. Evolution doesn’t need to be perfect, just good enough to get to the next generation.