Kimberly A. Riley

@Joshua1a2b3c4d @JaxIsImmortal @DreamLeaf5 @justinboldaji a tiny advantage. Groups evolve, not individuals and most caterpillars will be eaten. Once that feedback loop starts, of spots look like eyes, it gets reinforced and over a whole bunch of generations, becomes fixed placement. They don’t have to know, they just have to live.

@Joshua1a2b3c4d @JaxIsImmortal @DreamLeaf5 @justinboldaji So, it doesn’t take much to kick start this. Say you start with blending in, but you also have some darker spots. Occasionally, a few caterpillars have spot placement that looks like eyes to would-be predators. Those get a tiny survival advantage and those mate with another with

This is supposed to fool forest wildlife but I would be completely fooled also. I’d be sitting there confounded as to how half of a snake is just chillin & looking around

@Ryen778931 @curtise3 It’s not the worst one either! Gympie Gympie had it beat, but at least that one isn’t invasive, cause that would be insane. Hogweed needs to be found and eradicated before it spreads further.

@KARiley40 @curtise3 Hogweed is nasty.

Ice breaker question: "So, which invasive weed are you most fixated on?"

@IslandBoise @thefrauderalres @SULLY10X Basically. And it only has to just scare away one bird to increase its survival chance and then it breeds with another one that also scared one bird. And then it’s off to the races. Remember: groups evolve, not individuals.

@KARiley40 @thefrauderalres @SULLY10X I get it. The birds made it look like a snake because they ate all the ones that don’t look like snakes.

The non-poisonous Snake-Head Caterpillar inflates its tail to resemble a poisonous viper. It’s found in the Eastern United States in all summer long.

@__Sigh @xtal1ze @IslandBoise @thefrauderalres @SULLY10X they will get you started. I’m not going to lie, quantum stuff is counter intuitive. Like randomness, like true random, doesn’t really exist. But chaos does and it always leads to order. And yes, I know. It’s weird.

@__Sigh @xtal1ze @IslandBoise @thefrauderalres @SULLY10X We don’t really know. We have some ideas about it, but one of the problems is we really don’t have a universe before time to study. I recommend two books. First, The Quantum Universe: Everything that can Happen Does. And, The First Three Minutes. Both are a little dated, but

@ChelseaHerps Shrews. Black-footed cat. Mongoose. Goliath tigerfish. Black ghost knife. Army ants.

Bees, goats, ants, hyenas. Who else?

@IslandBoise @thefrauderalres @SULLY10X Birds have a natural aversion to snakes. They will error on the side of caution if anything even kinda looks like a snake. Snakes eat birds. But the camo isn’t perfect. Some birds will see through the disguise. But the better the disguise the more likely to not get eaten.

@KARiley40 @thefrauderalres @SULLY10X But why a snake

@Enrique42888788 @remercurize @thefrauderalres @SULLY10X No. A ‘few’ on a level like this would be like a few hundred or thousand. If you want one that’s been studied and happened in human history, look to the peppered moth. They switched from white to black in 20-50 generations. And then back again. bbc.com/news/science-e…

@Enrique42888788 @thefrauderalres @SULLY10X I said a few generations for it to start. Not to get to here. You only need a tiny advantage and then that is what builds up over millions of years. And then you get here. It’s not like one looked like a snake right away.

@__Sigh @xtal1ze @IslandBoise @thefrauderalres @SULLY10X Death is the filter. And yes. Laws exist in a vacuum and evolution does follow laws like physics. Fractals, for example, are very common because they are the lowest energy, easiest way to develop that takes advantage of maximum space.

@xtal1ze @IslandBoise @KARiley40 @thefrauderalres @SULLY10X And what caused it to be filtered out? Can laws exist in a vacuum?

@MTRehmeyer @actionxander If people want to help, get educated on other, less dangerous, more obvious invasives like iguanas, pleco fish, and the like. Then also help to restore habitat, even in your own yard. There is plenty of work to bringing back the ecosystem that don’t involve chompie face reptiles.

@MTRehmeyer @actionxander The problem is that an American crocodile can be mistaken for it, which are endangered. The crocs have a narrow jaw too. Though the croc is way more narrow, if you don’t know what you are looking at, you could do a lot damage.

I don't think people realize that FWC does not mess around. I can't even actively remove invasive spectacled caimans from the Everglades without either having a Conditional Non-native Species Permit (CSP) or calling it in and waiting for FWC to capture it and remove it themselves. The reason for some of these strict codes is to a) ensure the right people are handling the animal (it's dangerous) and b) reassurance for identifying the correct species. Can't jump a crocodilian thinking it's a caiman and it turns out to be a protected American crocodile. Here's a spectacled caiman found in an Everglades wildlife management zone. Photo sent to me by a photographer friend (Kym Clark).

@RealPostFolder Got another one! You need to flush your hot water tank every year! This includes the tankless heaters. If you haven’t ever done this, call a professional. This will make the heater last longer. You also have to wash the coils on your AC unit occasionally.

@RealPostFolder Always cover a crystal ball (starts fires), replace all smoke detectors once every 10 years, water your foundation if you live on clay soil, don’t take a bath in an electrical storm, most left overs/food can be frozen.

@guraiuna @candyenthus9 @RealPostFolder Yep! It’s a serious issue. You need a watering system that is going off at least twice a week or a soaker hose around the foundation that you let run for about 30 minutes every other day, when not raining. But. This isn’t everywhere in the country, just in clay areas.

@candyenthus9 @KARiley40 @RealPostFolder depending on region, in summer rain can be scarce. if clay dries, it contracts and most foundations are not engineered with that in mind

@thefrauderalres @jocalex8 @SULLY10X I know this stuff is complicated and the sheer amount of time and individuals involved is something we can’t picture. But evolution is probably one of the greatest unifying theories we have and it touches so many other sciences.

@thefrauderalres @jocalex8 @SULLY10X Time only gives you the necessary numbers. Individuals do not evolve, groups do. All of your offspring aren’t exact clones of you, but they are similar to you with variations. Those with any advantage that lets them survive to reproduce, then that variation becomes more common.

@jocalex8 @thefrauderalres @SULLY10X I can pretty much guarantee that this ‘snake’ disguise isn’t 100% effective against birds/predators. Certain angles or sizes, the bird sees it as a caterpillar and eats it. Most will die before having offspring.

@jocalex8 @thefrauderalres @SULLY10X Evolution is messy. It never progresses in a straight line. You will always get individuals that are more or less convincing every generation and then death is what filters out most.