FunNature & AnimalCan animals lie?

Can animals lie?

The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy defines lying, in its first meaning, as saying or expressing the opposite of what is known, believed or thought . It would be necessary to extend the limits of saying a lot, to be able to attribute this capacity to non-human animals.

However, animals can communicate with others, both congeners and different species. And, of course, there are animals that express or manifest untruths , either intentionally or functionally.

functional lies

There are many species that exhibit deceptive behavior to other species. Some are intrinsic to their biology, such as mimicry . They are purely functional delusions, shaped by the evolutionary process. For example, many insects, although harmless, resemble dangerous animals , such as the flies of the Hoverfly family, or the Sesia apiformis moth, whose appearance resembles that of wasps, sometimes very convincingly. Another example is the huge owl butterflies, of the genus Caligo , which, perched on trees with open wings, resemble the face of an owl staring at its prey.

But not all deception is visual. In animals that communicate through pheromones , such as ants, there are species capable of deceiving the sense of smell of others. Such is the case with some species of the genus Tetramorium . Parasitic ants of other ants , infiltrating their host’s anthill by mimicking their pheromones to avoid detection as intruders. The Tetramorium queen clings to the body of the host queen and is fed by the colony’s workers. When mature, the inquiline lays her eggs, which mix with those of the host queen, and are cared for by the colony.

ventriloquist hoaxes

In the great diversity of the animal kingdom, not all trickery is functional, in the form of inescapable and involuntary evolutionary adaptations. There are also organisms that lie through learned and intentional behaviors, such as that of the burrowing owl ( Athene cunicularia ).

Burrowing Owls typically nest on the ground, in abandoned squirrel burrows. But sometimes, the squirrels decide to return to those burrows and find the table laid: appetizing eggs and baby owls —contrary to popular belief, squirrels are omnivorous animals—.

To avoid the encounter, the adult owl makes a hissing sound reminiscent of that of the rattlesnake , with which they share a habitat. That sound is enough for the squirrels, aware of its meaning, to move away believing that a dangerous snake lives in its old burrow.

Faking injury or death

Another well-known deception, first described in 1787, is the broken wing strategy practiced by many species of birds—belonging to as many as 52 different families—to drive predators away from their nests. The technique is simple. The bird detects a predator near the nest, flies down until it is positioned in the opposite direction and at a sufficient distance so as not to be reached, but still visible to the hunter, and extends a wing on the ground, simulating that it has a broken wing. Sometimes, he accompanies his performance with sounds of pain.

When the predator thinks it recognizes an easy prey and decides to go for it, then the bird moves strategically to keep the hunter away from his nest . Once far enough away to consider the nest safe, the bird takes flight before the predator reaches it.

Finally, one of the most unpleasant deceptions is that of the possum of the species Didelphus virginiana. When near a predator, it will play dead , a behavior called thanatosis, but in a much more exaggerated and efficient way than most species that habitually express this behavior.

The opossum’s body tenses, arching its tail under its belly, and opening its mouth and eyes, resembling a corpse. In addition, it seasons the plate with urine, feces and saliva, and sometimes vomit , generating a mixture of odors that makes the predator think that the morsel is not in good condition. Respiration rate drops by 30%, heart rate by 46%, and body temperature can drop by as much as 4°C, additions that make the performance that much more convincing. Despite everything, the animal remains fully conscious and reactive , and escapes as soon as the predator loses interest in such an unpleasant snack.

References:

de Framond, L. et al. 2022. The broken-wing display across birds and the conditions for its evolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289(1971), 20220058. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0058

Huheey, JE 1984. Warning Coloration and Mimicry. In WJ Bell et al. (Eds.), Chemical Ecology of Insects (pp. 257-297). Springer US. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4899-3368-3_10

Kimble, D. P. 1997. Didelphid behavior. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 21(3), 361-369. DOI: 10.1016/S0149-7634(96)00016-4

Rowe, M. P. et al. 1986. Rattlesnake Rattles and Burrowing Owl Hisses: A Case of Acoustic Batesian Mimicry. Ethology, 72(1), 53-71. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.1986.tb00605.x

Vidal Cordero, JM 2021. The ants. CSIC, Cataract.

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