Nature is disgusting

We all know that regular things can evolve into really bizarre things in order to survive. I mean, you gotta do what you gotta do, right? But sometimes I wonder if mother nature has gone too far. Case in point, I present to you the “toilet plant“:

Pitcher plants are carnivorous and usually eat insects for nutrients and nitrogen. But in the highlands of Borneo there are not enough for it to survive on insects alone, so the pitcher plant evolved into a toilet plant, complete with standing lid that serves an unusual purpose.

Basically, the lid contains a nectar that these little rodents like to eat. The plant is positioned such that, while the animal is eating the nectar it is positioned to do its business, into (for lack of a better phrase) the plant’s mouth. But the plant doesn’t just stop there, oh no.

There is even some thought that the nectar might have laxative properties

How far would you go to survive? What I don’t understand is, why couldn’t the plant just evolve to eat the shrew?

2 thoughts on “Nature is disgusting

  1. Pingback: Why do we keep discovering these things? « Is this thing on?

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