I mean don’t we also sort of carry that same image (obviously not exactly, but sorta) in our genes?
Comment on Alas Moths
General_Shenanigans@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The crazy thing about this is not just how evolution reverse-engineered what a snake looks like to a bird (or whatever preys on this moth), but also that some birds are born with an image burned into their brains labeled “avoid.” Snakes are such a problem to animals that may also prey on this moth, that a moth was able, over millions of years of evolution, to mimic that image through selective pressure. We’re not seeing here a moth mimicking a snake, we are seeing a moth’s wings resembling the image its prey holds in its brain of what it should identify as its own predator. An image that, itself, is held genetically and passed down from animal to animal, built by its own selective pressure. It’s amazing that this could produce such a clear image that’s immediately recognizable to us.
reinei@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
xenoclast@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Or to boil it down: the more the ones who’s wings looked more like snakes had more babies cuz they’re weren’t dead.
Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
The ones whos wings looked like what their predators think a snake looks like survived more often.
angrystego@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I’m not their predator and I think a snake looks like that too. I therefore I think the image is pretty acurate.
Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
That means we see snakes similarly to the way their predators do.
From a different perspective, the bee mimic orchid only vaguely looks like a bee to us, but it still successfuly tricks bees, so image accuracy isn’t the only factor. Both mimics can give us interesting insughts into how other animals see the world.