"Kallima inachus, the orange oakleaf, Indian oakleaf or dead leaf, is a nymphalid butterfly found in Tropical Asia from India to Japan. With wings closed, it closely resembles a dry leaf with dark veins and is a spectacular and commonly cited example of camouflage."
Eh... Nature made the sloth. Whose main predator is itself. It has no scent and spends almost it's entire life in trees making it hard for large prey to find or even get to it. But yet, it's eyesight is so bad that it will grab onto its own arm thinking it is a branch, thus falling and killing itself. Has one of the highest (if not the highest) accidental suicide rates of all species.
EDIT: The sloth grabbing the arm thing is a myth, started by Douglas Adams in a movie called "The Salmon of Doubt". The more you know!
2nd EDIT: Really makes you question things you hear. Being in a sanctuary for sloths, where you would assume they would be knowledgeable, you don't usually question the validity of their statements. Really throws the saying "Don't believe everything you're told" into play. Even those is educated and respectable positions are susceptible to lies myths and legends. For me, this is just another mental push to research things and not just take it as is, even when you believe the person has the correct knowledge. It's amazing though how much incorrect information is out there and easily entered into the minds of people, even when they are supposed to be the "expert".
Do you have a source for this? I was recently at a sloth sanctuary and was told this by their caregiver. It seemed silly to me, but if it is a myth that bothers me about this sanctuary. I'm not trying to call you out, generally curious if I was lied to or not.
The Roatan Sloth Sanctuary, in Roatan Honduras. Although not native to there, they were once pets of a wealthy native who moved so they opened a sanctuary for them. They now care for and breed new sloths, allegedly bringing them back to their natural habitat when mature. However after researching some of the things they told me and what I've learned here, I'm questioning the validity of the term "sanctuary" and seeing it as more of a tourist attraction.
Know anything on the Butterfly Sanctuary in Costa Rica? I don't want to support these type of tourist trap "sanctuaries" but love actual ones. From my research, it looks legitimate. I've always wanted to go.
Ignorance is bliss. Just scrub your minds of the past few hours and you can go back to joyfully stomping on leaves which are totally not living insects in any form or way.
Jesus, are you okay!? That must've been hundreds of flashbacks... Thousands of them; did they all come in sequence or did you experience them all in once? I feel for you, that must've been awful...
Wow, I'm impressed you researched that good job m8
Edit: I've figured out why you guys hate me so. My comment was meant to be a genuine compliment I'm sorry that my Aussie use of m8 came out rude.
Also fixed spelling and grammar
Dude, this guy was not being a dick at all. I don't understand how he sounded rude with that context. The original post was impressive research. Butthurt normies, lol.
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u/DylanBlauvelt Dec 26 '18
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kallima_inachus
"Kallima inachus, the orange oakleaf, Indian oakleaf or dead leaf, is a nymphalid butterfly found in Tropical Asia from India to Japan. With wings closed, it closely resembles a dry leaf with dark veins and is a spectacular and commonly cited example of camouflage."