this post was submitted on 10 Mar 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] xkforce@lemmy.world 98 points 8 months ago (2 children)

They dont. It just happens that natural selection favored flowers that looked vaguely bird like and over time, flowers that looked more and more like a bird outcompeted the ones that looked less like one.

[–] orphiebaby@lemm.ee 44 points 8 months ago (2 children)

What's funny is how absurd this is. Most flowers don't look like birds and they're fine.

[–] Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 30 points 8 months ago (2 children)

This has nothing to do with natural selection. It's just a coincidence that the buds very shortly and from a specific angle vaguely look like birds.

Most of the images shared are probably photoshopped to enhance the effect too.

[–] vzq@lemmy.blahaj.zone 35 points 8 months ago (1 children)

looks at user name

Sounds like something a BIRD would say!

[–] Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 8 months ago

Squaaawk, you got me!

[–] orphiebaby@lemm.ee 1 points 8 months ago

I don't think photoshop is needed to find the right flowers and photograph at the right angle.

[–] Zink@pawb.social 17 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's about tiny percents.

A bird will land on a flower.

A bird will not land on a bird.

So every one in a million time a bird mistakes a flower for a bird, that's a flower that survives.

All you have to do is wait a couple million years for the odds to turn in the bird flower's favor.

[–] orphiebaby@lemm.ee 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

...But birds pollinate flowers. How is a bird not landing on this (particular, too) flower going to help it survive?

[–] fuckingkangaroos@lemm.ee 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Maybe they're tree scarecrows to keep bugs away

[–] oce@jlai.lu 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Sir, I believe those would be scarebugs.

[–] Old_Fat_White_Guy@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

If they keep bugs away then I'll take a dozen.

[–] exocrinous@lemm.ee 13 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Right, but what about the mimic plant? It mimicks whatever plant is near it. And it can mimic plastic plants. https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2022/11/30/23473062/plant-mimicry-boquila-trifoliolata

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 3 points 8 months ago

Should be a pretty trivial experiment to replicate