this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2023
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99% is pretty impressive, most species have 100% mortality rate
That's an interesting point!
Any animal that changes or metamorphosises into a different animal technically has a less than 100% mortality rate
Hmm, interesting indeed! I get what you're trying to say, but I would also tend to believe that it's still the same animal? If not that, then wouldn't the caterpillar cease to exist when it metamorphosised into something else?
Caterpillar is not actually an animal though, it's a stage of life.
Aah indeed, now I'm aware :)
I would also lean closer towards 'same animal' but its physical morphology undergoes such drastic changes its definitely blurred lines
Psychologically I think there are tests that show butterflies and moths retain memories from pre-metamorphisis stages
Metaphysical questions are so cool just because we may never be able to answer them!!!
As mentioned in one of the comments, since caterpillar is just a stage of life, I guess it isn't as much of a contradiction/paradox then.
But yes, stuff like this is loads of fun! :D
Animals are a social construct
This is why the infant mortality rate isn't 100%
"Caterpillar" is not a species. It's a stage of some animals' life cycle. It means 99% of catepillars die before they become butterflies or moths or whatever
So caterpillars do have a chance to be "immortal" and transcend instead to a superior state of existence* at the end of their time. Whoa.
*that is, unfortunately, very mortal.
I wish it were 100% in tomato hornworms. Seeing that 99% of them die before turning into moths makes me think all of the surviving ones just hang out in my garden.
I think noting caterpillar is the same as say infant death rate for humans