Darwin Unhinged: The Bugs in Evolution

Another example of amazing mimicry - a new leaf-tailed gecko of Madagascar - Uroplatus finaritra

From article here:

"The newly discovered species comes from low altitude areas of Marojejy National Park on Madagascar’s northeastern tip. During the day, the leaf-tailed geckos are difficult to spot. They tend to hang out in dead leaves, covering themselves with their deceptive tail and sticking their limbs out like twigs. At night, however, they come alive, actively hunting in the dense rainforest—that’s when researchers conduct their surveys."

From another article here:

"Madagascar has no shortage of endemic species. Leaf-tailed geckos, genus Uroplatus, are similarly a Madagascan original. Well over a dozen species have evolved on the island, and all are equipped with impressive camouflage. In the ultimate RPG of Life, these reptiles have maxed out their stealth skill trees, appearing indistinguishable from an old leaf when at rest. Their tails are flattened and leaf-shaped, and their skin has blotchy colors and textures, even incorporating ragged edges on skin folds for that authentic, “brittle decay” look."

Has there ever been a good Darwinian explanation for carefully detailed camouflage? What good for natural selection would looking a little bit like a leaf be?

Another example of amazing mimicry - a new leaf-tailed gecko of Madagascar - Uroplatus finaritra

From article here:


From another article here:


Has there ever been a good Darwinian explanation for carefully detailed camouflage? What good for natural selection would looking a little bit like a leaf be?

Are you really asking what are the survival benefits of camouflage? If your broader question is, “Isn’t nature amazing?”, then yes, it is.

Are you really asking what are the survival benefits of camouflage? If your broader question is, “Isn’t nature amazing?”, then yes, it is.

It is one thing to evolve camouflage good enough to blend into the background but quite another to mimic something so precisely that it looks like an artist meticulously painted the details. You are a fan of mechanisms, malf, so I'd like to know how you explain this ...

It is one thing to evolve camouflage good enough to blend into the background but quite another to mimic something so precisely that it looks like an artist meticulously painted the details. You are a fan of mechanisms, malf, so I'd like to know how you explain this ...

https://www.google.co.nz/amp/s/amp.reddi...=undefinedC

Just random mutation and natural selection are obviously untenable, there are clearly lots of mechanisms, and lots of ways for life to tap into them. But I see no reason to invoke a Slartibartfast designer. or other type of god thing. I’m damn sure that if you could ask leaf-bug’s millions of ancestors whether some type of external intelligence just gifted them with this appearance, they would tell you to bugger off with your intuition, as their lives had been very hard, and billions had died, or been killed on the journey.

Just random mutation and natural selection are obviously untenable, there are clearly lots of mechanisms, and lots of ways for life to tap into them. But I see no reason to invoke a Slartibartfast designer. or other type of god thing. I’m damn sure that if you could ask leaf-bug’s millions of ancestors whether some type of external intelligence just gifted them with this appearance, they would tell you to bugger off with your intuition, as their lives had been very hard, and billions had died, or been killed on the journey.

Now that is a great example of a strawman, Max. I asked malf for a proposed mechanism, I did NOT claim a "god thing" type of designer did it. Maybe you can take a leisurely trip back through the pages of this thread an point out where I have claimed such a designer.

https://www.google.co.nz/amp/s/amp.reddi...=undefinedC

Yeah, that's about the level of imagination I might have expected: arrogant Reddit ideologists sticking to the party line.

Yeah, that's about the level of imagination I might have expected: arrogant Reddit ideologists sticking to the party line.

Admittedly, it’s no match for incredulity.

Admittedly, it’s no match for incredulity.

One man's incredulity is another man's amazing - as in "isn't nature amazing". 

Now that is a great example of a strawman, Max. I asked malf for a proposed mechanism, I did NOT claim a "god thing" type of designer did it. Maybe you can take a leisurely trip back through the pages of this thread an point out where I have claimed such a designer.

Just to be clear, you're rejecting a "Slartibartfast designer", "other type of god thing" or "some type of external intelligence just gifted [leaf-bug] with this appearance" as possible explanations?

As for the leaf-bug... is it really so different from say... a lacewing...