Items21The creator’s order
  1. 1Uroplatus phantasticusUroplatus phantasticusSatanic leaf-tailed gecko Strategy: masquerade as a dead leaf. This little gecko, only about 9 cm long, has a flat, leaf-shaped tail that often carries small cutouts, as if something had been nibbling a fallen leaf. By day it hangs motionless among dead leaves in the branches, and only at night…0
  2. 2Pulchriphyllium giganteumPulchriphyllium giganteumGiant Malaysian leaf insect Strategy: masquerade as a living leaf, with choreography. The body is flat, green and veined like foliage, about 4 inches long in the wild, and even carries blotches that look like leaf disease. The clever part is the movement: when it walks it pauses and sways, rocking…0
  3. 3Phobaeticus chaniPhobaeticus chaniChan's megastick Strategy: masquerade as a twig. Stick insects spend the day motionless, relying on looking like part of the plant to keep predators from noticing them, and this one does it at record scale. A specimen from the rainforest of Sabah, on the Malaysian side of Borneo, measures 56.7 cm…0
  4. 4Kallima inachusKallima inachusOrange oakleaf butterfly Strategy: masquerade as a dead leaf, with variety built in. Wings open, it shows the bold upperside that earned its name. Wings closed, only the underside shows, in leaf browns and buffs with darkened veins like a dry leaf's. No two look quite alike, because the underside…0
  5. 5Common potooCommon potooCommon potoo Strategy: masquerade as a broken branch. When it is disturbed, this night bird rises upright on its perch and points its bill at the sky, becoming a convincing snapped-off stub of wood. Narrow folds in the upper eyelids let it peek out while it seems to be asleep, so it keeps watch…0
  6. 6Hymenopus coronatusHymenopus coronatusOrchid mantis Strategy: pass as a flower to ambush the visitors. This Southeast Asian mantis looks less like an insect than a bloom. Researchers working in Malaysia found it does not copy one particular orchid: to a bee's eyes its color is indistinguishable from the flowers growing around it. In…0
  7. 7Leafy seadragonLeafy seadragonLeafy seadragon Strategy: masquerade as drifting seaweed. This relative of the seahorse, up to 35 cm long, is covered in large leaf-like appendages that look like fins but do nothing for swimming. They exist purely for disguise, and the fish adds to the act by rocking with the swell like a loose…0
  8. 8Synanceia verrucosaSynanceia verrucosaReef stonefish Strategy: background matching, with a dangerous twist. Usually brown or gray, sometimes with patches of yellow, orange or red, it can look exactly like an encrusted rock or a lump of coral as it sits on rubble or coral bottoms, often under rocks or ledges. It is also the most…0
  9. 9Hippocampus bargibantiHippocampus bargibantiBargibant's pygmy seahorse Strategy: background matching taken to the extreme. At most about 2.4 cm long, this seahorse lives only on sea fans of the genus Muricella, and its body is covered in knobby bumps that match the color and shape of its host's polyps. One form is pale gray or purple with…0
  10. 10Snow leopardSnow leopardSnow leopard Strategy: background matching on a big scale. Smoky gray fur broken up by dark rosettes and spots turns a large predator into one more patch of rock on Asia's steep, high mountain slopes. It is so good at this that it is widely called the ghost of the mountains, and you could look…0