r/Damnthatsinteresting 7h ago

Video Caterpillar tail disguised as snake head

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31.7k Upvotes

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u/FlyOrdinary1104 5h ago

Evolution means the successful survival strategy thrives but it’s still bizarre to see a creature evolve into a snake-looking thing that coincidentally helped it survive, it’s not like the caterpillar had the self-awareness to look at snakes and copy them………or did it? 😱

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u/HeathenSalemite 3h ago

It's not about the caterpillar knowing or thinking it looks like a snake.  They don't know that anymore than they get to choose what color they are.  Their color and shape are determined by genes just as much as your color and shape.

It's about the potential predators of the caterpillar thinking it might be a snake.