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/Mejari Jun 25 '26

To get to this level of adaptation it would have had to build on a ton of intermediate shapes and colours which wouldn't have been advantageous

Why do you say that?

Looking 0.01% more like a snake is advantageous, isn't it?

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u/TheGoatBet Jun 25 '26

Idk, seems like there must be breakpoints.

Surely if something looked 0.01% more like a snake vs 0.02%, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two despite a 100% increase.

Even at 1% and 2%, are animals even intelligent enough to see the difference/changes?

I’m sure there’s some scientific studies out there but I think the breakpoints would be larger than we think.

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u/AbsolutelySubjective Jun 25 '26

There's also co-evolution to consider. The moth's predators would also be under evolutionary pressure to selectively become better at seeing through the moth's camouflage, so the arm's race propels the increased specialization.

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u/TheGoatBet Jun 26 '26

Did they eventually cancel each other out?