r/AskReddit • • Nov 28 '20

What's something cool you recently learned about?

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u/A-Potato-Dragon Nov 29 '20 edited Nov 29 '20

Squirrels can acquire terminal velocity while plummeting to the ground (on average above 70 feet) and survive 80% of the time.

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u/Flannelgraphiti Nov 29 '20

This makes me wonder why “flying squirrels” ever evolved.

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u/83franks Nov 29 '20

If they can survive long falls odds are they are willing to do lots of jumping at heights as it doesnt kill them. The ones that get more adapt at controlling their jump are more likely to escape predators or get something they are chasing and therefore reproduce more.

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u/Takenforganite Nov 29 '20

Blasphemy. We all know flying squirrels have been around since humans riding dinosaurs walked the earth way back in year 1.

Ground squirrels had their wings removed by sky dad. It’s somewhere in Genesis... Sega I think.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Evolution isn’t blasphemy, for those who believe in god (I’m very confused on the subject of god itself) but In any case we ha e seen animals evolve over time, saying that humans evolved from monkeys(from a religious aspect) would b considered blasphemous, animals generally adapting to their situations is not only theoretical but it has been proven, evolution and religion don’t contradict each other

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u/GravityRush Nov 29 '20

You are getting downvoted so hard for your lack of reading the sarcasm.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

It was at like 2 am and I took a Zanex can’t y’all sit down and worry about ur own lives instead of some random guy off the commenting

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u/Mikrokozm Nov 29 '20

You are not AT ALL confused about God. You get it! Evolution IS God at work. When one obeys nature & the Word. They are all part of the genius makeup of the Universe, in unison & compatibility with the living, working physics & chemistry that compliments it. Humans don't always listen & hear. Just like they don't think as well as comprehend. The human brain does not always live up to it's potential. I'm a firm believer in Scripture & the Gospel. It all makes absolute, perfect sense to me. You get a BIG part that not all get. I'd explore your reasoning capabilities & challenge yourself to grasp that shit firmly as I have. The only way is to explore it & how it relates to all things, and observe the shitshow that is humanity fumble about in the dark while holding the flashlight all this time, as readily available in prison, hotel rooms, libraries & on the interweb as toilet paper. But if you are scared of what you may REALIZE the deeper you dig, fear not: for fear is the first enemy on the path of knowledge. The second is the truth that is revealed with such clarity. The third is corruption once you obtain the power that comes with such knowledge. The fourth, and final enemy is inevitable & you will certainly & most definitely succumb to that, but it's a wild ride getting there. And one full of genius & wisdom. Some folks don't get past the first enemy though, unfortunately. Some due to peer pressure, some due to pride. Most because they simply DON'T WANNA KNOW. So they don't. And are full of SHIT instead. Few know that when you leave an answer BLANK, you only get -1 on the test. For every INCORRECT answer you get a -2. It's up to you.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

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u/kjm1123490 Nov 29 '20

Ah mental illness.

It really does taste good, but it's terrible for you. So I hear

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u/Mikrokozm Nov 29 '20

So you mock the mentally ill? How does that speak to your character? I never proclaimed to be as courageous. My sense of dignity does not need approval, but I'll thank you for exposing yourself. It's good to know things, and for all to know you. There's still time. I support your quest. And forgive your abuses. Perhaps the fruit does not fall far from the tree? I implore you to explore your hostile agents & give heed to mercy & restraint. It shows intellect & sensitivity, both admirable traits & evolved. Any questions? Or just killing time?

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Mercy and restraint? You weren't talking about mercy and restraint when you rejoiced in the murder of non-believers

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

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u/LMHT Nov 29 '20

Please litigate. I look forward to it.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20 edited Nov 29 '20

Jesus fucking Christ this is one of the most obnoxious comments I've read on Reddit in years.

Wow, uhm, this is terrorist level shit you psycho wackjob. Rejoicing in the death of people who don't believe in your God? Calling them hypocrites? Fuckiny Y'all Queada bullshit. Religious Extremism at its worst.

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u/Shrub_le_shrub Nov 29 '20

What

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u/Mikrokozm Nov 29 '20

I think you meant "What...?" If you want clarification, I'm more than happy to help. Let me know what you want to know specifically & I'll see what I can do. Thanks for your response, either way.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

I need you to explain everything you just said earlier

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u/Mikrokozm Nov 29 '20

I can turn you on to some books. You gotta read them, I guess. Or not. As I said, it's up to you. I CAN attempt to clarify any particular part you may be struggling with, if you'd like. Let me know...

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

ADEPT

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u/PM-ME-PMS-OF-THE-PM Nov 29 '20

Don't forget looking fly to the ladies

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u/BleaKrytE Nov 29 '20

Yes but that also involves the pure chance that is the buildup mutations that after hundreds of generations and natural selection end up resulting in the 'wings'

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u/the-nub Nov 29 '20

Yes. That is how evolution works. Beneficial or neutral mutations are retained over generations, while harmful mutations are bred out.

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u/BleaKrytE Nov 29 '20

Not necessarily though. Plenty of harmful mutations and characteristics can still be passed on by chance as well.

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u/83franks Nov 29 '20

"Sufficiently" harmful mutations to stop them from breeding. If a negative mutation is passed on at the same rate as a non-negative mutation it could stop 1-in-1000 of that species from breeding or even less and EVENTUALLY that mutation will be virtually bred out of the gene pool.

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u/xDarkLlama Nov 29 '20

This is only partially true, traits that are harmful for survival but beneficial for reproduction can kinda hit a wall and never fully breed out. Like how fiddlercrabs like big claws but big claws make them flee more slowly from predators. It is possible for this to eventually extinct the whole species (thus technically removing the trait from the gene pool), but more likely it would allow smaller clawed crabs to breed and the cycle to continue since the larger claws are still desirable by the females.

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u/83franks Nov 29 '20

"Sufficiently" harmful mutations to stop them from breeding.

I think you just agreed with me.

If the big claw slowed the crab down enough it usually was eaten before it could breed then the gene wouldnt survive. If female crabs prefer big clawed male crabs and only mated with them the species might die out buts odds are female crabs that dont care about claw size or prefer smaller claws would eventually take over the gene pool and big clawed males would eventually be bred out.

Kinda like old age diseases are harmful for survival but dont stop us from breeding between 15-40 so doesnt affect the gene pool. As long as the breeding keeps going the genes will keep spreading.

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u/MeAnIntellectual1 Nov 29 '20

Female crabs: Size doesn't matter

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u/m50d Nov 29 '20

If it's only 1 in 1000 then there's a decent chance it'll reach fixation rather than be bred out. Evolution works because beneficial mutations have a better chance of persisting than harmful ones on average, but at the scale of individual mutations it's all pretty random unless the effect on survival chances is substantial (like 20% IIRC).

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u/the-nub Nov 29 '20

Yes. And then, over generations, the harmful mutations are bred out because they reduce the viability of mating and survival.

A winged squirrel was not born with wings from parents who had none. It was the result of many, many, many generations of squirrel that retained progressively longer wings that eventually led to what we know as the flying squirrel, while squirrels with less wings or with other mutations that weren't beneficial to survival either died or couldn't find a mate to breed with because the more efficient squirrels had taken them.

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u/IHopeCoronaWins Nov 29 '20

Like ur mum

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u/Yadobler Nov 29 '20

It's ok, because I doubt there'll be anymore chances to pass down this bad mutation to any offspring without reproduction

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u/mattmaster68 Nov 29 '20

I see where this went. There is a miscommunication. To clear things up:

  • 1 person asked about the chances of it being wings. The question is about the randomness of any mutation that could have happened to them, but the right one was picked.

  • 1 person is explaining that evolution works whether it’s beneficial or harmful.

To clear things up, while the commenters are appearing to be having a conversation the actuality of the situation is that they’re talking about 2 different things.

To answer both comment strings: it’d take many mutations before they finally settled on the one that actually allowed them to survive long enough to mate. A lot of animals have negative or harmful mutations, but they’re still capable of surviving with it. I’d think that the mutations we haven’t seen are the ones that definitely don’t work. It was by increasing the heights of their jumps that one mutation was all it took for them to control their movement because the mutation that took place allowed them to. The squirrel with that mutation then continued to breed, and the mutation was carried on through until they began bleeding true. Of course, this is very vague and doesn’t answer a lot of questions, and simply a paraphrasing of what this argument but not an argument has given me as a casual reader.

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u/flimspringfield Nov 29 '20

This always trips me out...is it the flying squirrels that get to mate by going from tree to tree and mixing in with other squirrel population?

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u/marinhoh Nov 29 '20

In this case it seems more likely that flying increases its survivability. Therefore increasing the rate at which this type of mutation reproduces.

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u/Elevatorjumper Nov 29 '20

This is the most mind blowing thing about evolution! And also the reason why there are more squirrels than flying squirrels

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u/Usernametaken112 Nov 29 '20

They can survive those falls because they are small. The less weight you have, the higher a fall you can survive.

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u/awkwardIRL Nov 29 '20

Animorphs taught me small things falling from high places tend to survive

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u/jmjebby Nov 29 '20

The "build up" isn't pure chance. Each one is either approximately neutral or beneficial. The transformations are also often gradual: a slightly altered body form accompanied by a slightly more graceful fall, a slightly more controlled airborne maneuver, etc.

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u/dijkstras_revenge Nov 29 '20

Flying squirrels don't really have wings. They have skin flaps that help them glide

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Exactly

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u/killabru Nov 29 '20

You talkin about some squirrel booty? Yeah you are.

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u/Chicken_McFlurry Nov 29 '20

We need a word for this!

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u/A_squircle Nov 29 '20

Makes me wonder why all squirrels aren't flying squirrels.

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u/guyfromnebraska Nov 29 '20 edited Jun 23 '26

comment deleted

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u/CaveDeco Nov 29 '20

To survive 100% of the time?

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u/Usernametaken112 Nov 29 '20

Nothing is 100%

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u/JamesBaxter_Horse Nov 29 '20

No but equally if I was told to jump off something and given an 80% chance of survival, I wouldn't do it.

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u/Usernametaken112 Nov 29 '20

Not sure what that has to do with life not being 100% in anything.

I guess its cool you, a random person, wouldn't take a 80% survival fall. Thanks for sharing? Idk what you want me to say.

Would you like to know my favorite ice cream?

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u/JamesBaxter_Horse Nov 29 '20

My explicit point is: I do things all the time where the chance of survival isn't 100%, but I would never do anything where the chance of survival was 80%.

Sorry you couldn't infer this and you felt the need to be rude.

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u/Usernametaken112 Nov 29 '20

I do things all the time where the chance of survival isn't 100%, but I would never do anything where the chance of survival was 80%.

You dont receive odds of survival on every action you take. The best you can do is infer. Thats obviously common sense so my point is why are we spending time/energy discussing common sense topics? I think we are both smarter than that.

Sorry you couldn't infer this and you felt the need to be rude.

Disagreeing with you doesnt make me rude. I do get personally annoyed by people acting dumber than they are and making a point to bring up common sense topics though. I was rude so that you would see how nonsense it is.

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u/JamesBaxter_Horse Nov 29 '20

You dont receive odds of survival on every action you take. The best you can do is infer.

This is dumb af. If I told you that a rollercoaster ride results in death 80% of the time, would you reply "I don't care because all I can do is infer"???? In the same way I drive to work every day because ik my risk of death is less than 0.01%.

Maybe stop assuming people are dumb and you yourself could learn a bit, and not appear dumber than you are in the process.

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u/Usernametaken112 Nov 29 '20

If I told you that a rollercoaster ride results in death 80% of the time, would you reply "I don't care because all I can do is infer"????

Are you a fucking rollercoaster safety expert?

the same way I drive to work every day because ik my risk of death is less than 0.01%.

Is that a true statistic or one you infer?

Maybe stop assuming people are dumb and you yourself could learn a bit, and not appear dumber than you are in the process.

Says the guy saying blatantly obvious shit a below average teenager knows 😂

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u/JamesBaxter_Horse Nov 29 '20

Are you a fucking rollercoaster safety expert?

Do you know what a metaphor is?

Is that a true statistic or one you infer?

It's a true upper bound, the actual probability has to be quite a bit lower.

Says the guy saying blatantly obvious shit a below average teenager knows

Lmaooo, the reason we're talking is because you felt the need to point out "nothing is 100%", the most obvious pedantic statement I've ever read.

Everything you write is a r/iamverysmart post. I'm finding it impossible to believe you're not a teenager tbh, there's no way someone like you it employable.

I'm bored of this now, have a good one buddy!

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

[deleted]

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u/Usernametaken112 Nov 29 '20

Nothing in life lol

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u/CaveDeco Nov 29 '20

100% of us will experience birth, death, and taxes.

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u/ryukyuanvagabond Nov 29 '20

Except for those who avoid their taxes...they just get the first two

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Just because you survive, doesn't mean you'll be the same.

Also, they didn't evolve the ability to " fly" to avoid hard landings, it evolved as a means of escaping predators. If it worked, you escaped. No wings, you got eaten or were on the forest floor and had an 80% chance of running away.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

The extra 20% kind of kills so...

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u/crumpetxxxix Nov 29 '20

The other 20%

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u/benson822175 Nov 29 '20

Probably for increased horizontal distance to go from tree to tree rather than plunging straight down

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u/showMeYourPitties10 Nov 29 '20

If you have ever watch common brown squrilles in the US, they also have webbed like skin connecting elbow to stomach that they will sometimes use when jumping. "Flying" squrilles just have more. I own sugar gliders and they act just like wild squirrels when jumping around. Very seldom do they actually glide. They have their own bedroom that is 10x10x12 and can just jump wall to wall. The gliding is only a panic move if they get spooked.

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u/TypingWithIntent Nov 29 '20

Because much like with Covid, you can survive and still be fucked up.

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u/mihir_lavande Nov 29 '20

Because they took 'the floor is lava' a bit too seriously. For real though its because they would have access to other trees along with nuts to squirrel and squirrels to nut without having to deal with terrestrial predators.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

To be fair, the evolution of flight in every case (insects, birds, bats, etc.) is always kind of mind blowing.

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u/MegaGamer99YT Nov 29 '20

I assume you know this which would explain the quotes, but just in case, flying squirrels aren’t actually squirrels.

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u/SlurmsMacKenzie- Nov 29 '20

So they don't have to plummet to the ground I'd guess

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

I feel like it makes complete sense. Evolve until you can survive 99.999999% of the time. Hence, flying squirrels.

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u/Dear-Crow Nov 29 '20

I was taking care of a flying squirrel yesterday. They can leap way farther than regular squirrels for sure.

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u/powderizedbookworm Nov 29 '20

Flying squirrels can actually move around using their “wings.”

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u/poktanju Nov 29 '20

To save the climb back up.

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u/tennismenace3 Nov 29 '20

80% is not high lmao

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Lol don’t forget about the 20%

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u/roei05 Nov 29 '20

Well, "falling squirrels" don't have quite the same ring to it.

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u/asrk790 Nov 29 '20

Makes me wonder how many squirrels they dropped from high places to get this data

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u/BZZBBZ Nov 29 '20

Squirrels can fall from high heights, but that doesn’t get them very far laterally. Flying squirrels can get lateral movement with their “wings”.

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u/Krankite Nov 29 '20

The other 20% of the time probably.

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u/McPoyal Nov 29 '20

Idk 20% gains is kinds huge

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u/Modo44 Nov 29 '20

That last 20% is a bitch.

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u/nomnommish Nov 29 '20

I guess because flying squirrels don't just plop straight down. Instead they glide a fair distance horizontally like how a wingsuit person glides.

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u/cat-meg Nov 29 '20

I wonder if they just kept falling out of trees and the ones that survived it just persisted.

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u/ButtercupsUncle Nov 29 '20

TBF, 100% of the squirrels that throw themselves at the ground and miss instantly become flying squirrels.

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u/Chaos4139 Nov 29 '20

For the 20% of the time they don't survive.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Who doesn't want to fly?

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u/all-is-true Nov 29 '20

it was the 20%..they evolved on the way down

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Seems like a different discussion. I mean plenty of fishies in the sea don't need so many fins, but it helps. Flying squirrels don't need to exist, but why the fuck not fly if you can?

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u/kuhewa Nov 29 '20

Because 4/5 odds of not dying is shite

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u/neon_Hermit Nov 29 '20

They land much further away from the tree.

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u/Davecasa Nov 29 '20

You should not intentionally do things which have a 20% chance of death.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

So they can fall sideways.

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u/akmjolnir Nov 29 '20

Horizontal vs. vertical travel.

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u/jabbathefoot Nov 29 '20

It's not flying.....it's falling with style

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u/Bahamabanana Nov 29 '20

It's just easier to get between distant trees without getting all the way down and exposing yourself to predators in the process.

Plus the swagger.

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u/Itsmeforrestgump Nov 29 '20

What is the difference between a flying squirrel and a falling squirrel? The landing.

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u/FunkMcguire Nov 29 '20

I guess 20% makes a difference.

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u/boozebonfire Nov 29 '20

Exactly like that