Fresh from BoingBoing
The rich man's stick insect, better known as the various leaf-mimicking arthropods and frogs, have adapted to their natural leaf and leaf-litter habitats in a really awesome way. Their exoskeletons - or skin, for the frogs - resemble fresh, fallen, and dead leaves, winning them the gold medal in the Camouflage Olympics.
Original article is HERE. Just a warning: although they're all .jpg's, they are all fairly big images.
Let's get this thing rolling with the beloved classic leaf insect! Goddamn these guys are huge!
Unfortunately, they look very silly when they are not in their natural habitat. And I am sure they get squished on roads a lot because they look like piles of leaves. :(
Dead leaf butterfly...
... and katydid. Yes, those bent sticks are its legs. D:
Vertebrates getting in on the action:
I am not kidding when I tell you that my immediate reaction upon seeing this photo of a violin mantis was "THAT IS ONE SCARY MOTHERFUCKER D:". And it is not even fully developed, according to the image source! Though it is probably not as nightmare-inducing as the Silent Hill shark.
Original article is HERE. Just a warning: although they're all .jpg's, they are all fairly big images.
Let's get this thing rolling with the beloved classic leaf insect! Goddamn these guys are huge!
Unfortunately, they look very silly when they are not in their natural habitat. And I am sure they get squished on roads a lot because they look like piles of leaves. :(
Dead leaf butterfly...
... and katydid. Yes, those bent sticks are its legs. D:
Vertebrates getting in on the action:
I am not kidding when I tell you that my immediate reaction upon seeing this photo of a violin mantis was "THAT IS ONE SCARY MOTHERFUCKER D:". And it is not even fully developed, according to the image source! Though it is probably not as nightmare-inducing as the Silent Hill shark.