So I came across something terribly amazing today, that is, a video showing this

Question

So I came across something terribly amazing today, that is, a video showing this species of peacock-spider, that literally, transforms into a human face waving his arms about.

What could have possibly given rise to this?

I can understand the arms waving around, but why the uncanny human-face template, complete with eyes, nose, mouth, etc.

I do not believe this to be a case of anthropomorphism on my part, (seeing what I am familiar with), because I cannot imagine any other natural case where such symmetry in a pattern would closely resemble a human face.

Would appreciate any explanation. Thanks!

Explanation / Answer

I think this really is just a case of what you refer to in your question as anthropomorphism. We are very, very good at seeing faces.

Addendum

This site has pictures of quite a few peacock spiders, and as far as I can tell these are all the same species.

The remarkable thing about these images is that individual spiders seem to have very different patterns on thorax and abdomen, and many of these are much less like human faces. This seems to me to weaken the case for some sort of mimicry.

Interesting fact: seeing faces and other forms where they do not exist is a psychological phenomenon called pareidolia.

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