Who I was, covered up in leaves

[sovay]

My mother heard on the radio this afternoon that butterfly fossils prove that the proboscis evolved a full geologic period before flowering plants did.

Me: "So what were they eating with them?"

My mother: "Aha!"

(She's suspecting carrion.)

Comments

[thomasyan]

Unrelated, but this reminds me that I recently learned that hummingbirds drink in an unusual way -- item 59 on this list

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/12/the-science-facts-that-blew-our-minds-in-2017/549122/

(Actually, I'm still a bit confused because I didn't entirely understand the linked article, but I can still tell that it's pretty neat.)

[sovay]

Unrelated, but this reminds me that I recently learned that hummingbirds drink in an unusual way -- item 59 on this list

That is incredibly cool!

"The two tubes also separate from each other, giving the tongue a forked, snakelike appearance. And they unfurl, exposing a row of flaps along their long edges. It's as if the entire tongue blooms open, like the very flowers from which it drinks."

Way more H.R. Giger than I had given hummingbirds credit for.

(Actually, I'm still a bit confused because I didn't entirely understand the linked article, but I can still tell that it's pretty neat.)

The full paper is free to read online and has photographs and diagrams.

[thomasyan]

Thanks, the photographs, diagrams, and movies helped!