Skip to main content
Back to Show
It's Okay to Be Smart

Why Does Every Animal Look Like This?

Season 11 Episode 5

In the race to survive, both predators and prey use visual tricks to get ahead. One nearly universal trick is countershading, a color pattern that helps animals erase their own shadows or blend into different backgrounds. It’s worked well enough that nature has produced this pattern over and over again, all over Earth, for at least tens of millions of years.

Sign up now for inspiring and thought-provoking media delivered straight to your inbox.
Support Provided By
Season
Why Is Sex a Thing?
12:31
We explore the evolutionary enigma of sex and its existence.
A Brief (Scientific) History of Butts
12:27
This episode is about the science and evolutionary history of...butts.
How Your Brain Makes Its Own Electricity
18:46
How do the neurons in our brain work? Find out here!
Why Are We Warm-Blooded?
11:18
Here's the science behind why humans are warm-blooded.
How Ocean Currents Work (and How We Are Breaking Them)
12:38
This could have devastating effects on our future.
The Transcontinental Burrito Hypertunnel
11:57
We dug a classic doc that tells the story of the transcontinental burrito hypertunnel.
What is Impossible in Evolution?
19:29
We explore all the questions that teach us what's possible in evolution!
The Golden Ratio: Is It Myth or Math?
22:36
Let's find out exactly what is it!
When Is Now?
20:26
Let’s journey from Einstein’s thought experiments about relativity to answer it.
Visualizing Herd Immunity
14:49
We use lots and lots of mousetraps and ping-pong balls to show how this works.
Why Do We Lie?
16:43
Explore why we lie if we’re supposed to be the most socially developed species on Earth?
Glass is Solid… So Why Is It Clear?
5:42
Glass is made of sand, which is a kind of rock. But glass is transparent. We explore why!
Active loading indicator