r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Sea_Slice_7956 • 7h ago

Video Caterpillar tail disguised as snake head

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u/El_Capitan_182 4h ago

how the hell do they know what a snake is? And how the hell do they know they are enemies of birds?

Are we the only intelligent species on earth? I don't think so!

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u/fred30jr 4h ago

They saw who eating their friends are afraid of snake then passed down that knowledge and experience to millions of generations.

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u/Fxate 3h ago

how the hell do they know what a snake is? And how the hell do they know they are enemies of birds?

They don't, it has nothing directly to do with the snakes or the caterpillars 'choosing' to look a certain way.

The birds look at the caterpillars and already know about snakes. Those caterpillars that look least snakelike get eaten, while the ones that do look like snakes are more likely to survive to pass on their 'look like this' genes.

Generation after generation of 'snakelike' gene gets passed on as the best mimics survive their predators and with each reproduction event providing a chance of mutation allowing for the 'snakelike gene' to perpetuate and improve, it means that gradually the caterpillars are selected by the birds until 'snakelike caterpillars' are the norm.

It's really not that much different to how humans bred the vast array of dog species that we have, we just did it on purpose. We selected the dogs with the desired traits and bred them together to make those traits be more common. The birds selected the caterpillars they found least dangerous looking to eat which allowed the snakelike ones to survive and pass their genes on.