Fresh from BoingBoing

[trompelol]

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.

Comments

[icelore]

I adore the butterfly!

And wtf is the 'Silent Hill shark'? o.0

Thanks for posting!

[trompelol]

This guy.

[trompelol]

I have to admit the first time I saw the picture I linked to I screamed, but it is really cool from up front and adorable in profile. It's face is permanently ":D"

[logansrogue]

That last insect is CRAZY.

[mushroom_maiden]

That is AMAZING. I wonder how they do that? How does this come about? The evolution of it baffles me. Colours to match environment, sure, but looking THAT MUCH EXACTLY LIKE A LEAF? Do they have cameras in their DNA or what?

[emojoe]

Same old evolution that gave us opposable thumbs and gave giraffes long necks. It developed slowly, and the ones who (accidentally) looked more like leaves survived and had kids who looked like leaves, some of whom would slightly improve on it (accidentaly/incidentally).

[thetragicreturn]

Oohhhh, now it makes more sense. But, man, that must be one LONG evolutionary development. o_o

[mushroom_maiden]

that's amaaaaazing. I love the world!

[sarig]

Great photos!

The articles constant use of "evolution adaptation" baffled me somewhat though.

[ladybuggington]

If you read the comments to the article on that page, it's because there was a debate about the proper usage of the term evolution. So apparently the writer did that to appease people.

[sarig]

Cheers for pointing that out :)

[ialmrnt5]

whats the silent hill shark?

[maeda]

I was trying to come up with something witty or at least find a picture, but I've got nothin'.

[trompelol]

This guy.