摘要：Many animals' deceptive behaviors are genetically hard-wired and do not require higher cognition.Tactical deception is flexible, c

Do Octopuses Mean to Deceive?

章鱼是想欺骗吗？

The deceptive behaviors of cephalopods may indicate sophisticated intelligence.

头足类动物的欺骗行为可能表明其具有复杂的智力。

Posted September 25, 2025 | Reviewed by Gary Drevitch

发布于 2025 年 9 月 25 日 | 加里·德雷维奇 (Gary Drevitch) 审阅

Many animals' deceptive behaviors are genetically hard-wired and do not require higher cognition.Tactical deception is flexible, context-dependent, and relies on cognitive processes such as Theory of Mind.Scientists suggest studying tactical deception in cephalopods, such as octopuses, cuttlefish, and squids.Cephalopod species exhibit impressive cognitive abilities and behaviors that may be tactical deception.

许多动物的欺骗行为是基因决定的，不需要更高的认知能力。战术欺骗具有灵活性、依赖于具体情境，并且依赖于心智理论等认知过程。科学家建议研究头足类动物（如章鱼、乌贼和鱿鱼）的战术欺骗能力。头足类物种表现出令人印象深刻的认知能力和行为，这可能是一种战术欺骗。

Many animals use deception to get what they want. Most of these sneaky tactics are instinctual; however, a few creatures engage in tactical deception: They adapt their tricks depending on their goal or audience. Tactical deception involves some sophisticated cognition, and research on the phenomenon often focuses on primates or brainy birds like corvids. Recently, scientists suggested that a different group of animals may be ideal for the study of tactical deception: cephalopods.

许多动物会利用欺骗手段来获得它们想要的东西。这些狡猾的伎俩大多出于本能；然而，也有一些生物会运用战术欺骗：它们会根据目标或受众调整伎俩。战术欺骗涉及一些复杂的认知能力，而对这类现象的研究通常集中在灵长类动物或像鸦科动物这样聪明的鸟类身上。最近，科学家们提出，头足类动物或许是战术欺骗研究的理想对象。

Nature’s Deceivers

自然的欺骗者

Deception involves conveying misinformation in order to mislead others, but not all forms require higher cognition. Many deceptive behaviors are genetically determined, such as harmless butterflies evolving to resemble toxic ones.

欺骗是指为了误导他人而传递错误信息，但并非所有欺骗形式都需要更高的认知能力。许多欺骗行为是由基因决定的，例如无害的蝴蝶会进化成类似于有毒蝴蝶的样子。

“Tactical deception, by contrast, is flexible, context dependent, and shaped by the deceiver’s assessment of an audience,” says Elias Garcia-Pelegrin, an animal behaviorist at the National University of Singapore and a co-author of the new paper.

新加坡国立大学动物行为学家、新论文的合著者Elias Garcia-Pelegrin 表示：“相比之下，战术欺骗具有灵活性，依赖于具体情况，并受欺骗者对观众的评估的影响。”

For instance, researchers have observed chimpanzees taking advantage of moments when others are distracted to access food or resources. Jays provide another example: They will move, and sometimes pretend to move, their hidden caches of food when they notice other jays watching them.

例如，研究人员观察到黑猩猩会利用其他动物分心的时机获取食物或资源。松鸦则是另一个例子：当它们注意到其他松鸦在注视着它们时，它们会移动，有时还会假装移动藏匿的食物。

“These cases suggest that the animal is considering what others can see, know, or do,” says Garcia-Pelegrin.

“这些案例表明，动物正在考虑其他动物能看到什么、知道什么或做什么，”加西亚-佩莱格林说。

Tactical deception is thought to be linked to Theory of Mind, the ability to attribute mental states (such as knowledge, intentions, or desires) to others. In humans, this capacity is central to our social lives. In other animals, the evidence for Theory of Mind is debated. However, tactical deception is one of the behaviors that might reveal whether non-human species are able to take another’s perspective.

战术欺骗被认为与心智理论（Theory of Mind）有关，心智理论是指将心理状态（例如知识、意图或欲望）归因于他人的能力。对人类而言，这种能力是我们社会生活的核心。在其他动物中，心智理论存在的证据尚有争议。然而，战术欺骗是可能揭示非人类物种是否能够理解他人观点的行为之一。

Ocean Tricksters

海洋骗子

For scientists looking to study advanced cognition and deceptive behaviors, it’s hard to beat cephalopods, according to Garcia-Pelegrin.

加西亚-佩莱格林表示，对于想要研究高级认知和欺骗行为的科学家来说，头足类动物是最佳选择。

“They combine sophisticated camouflage and signaling with advanced problem-solving abilities, all supported by a nervous system that is completely different from that of vertebrates,” he says. “Their use of camouflage, masquerade, or ink clouds is not always reflexive. These strategies can be selectively deployed depending on context, which raises the possibility that some of their behaviors involve sensitivity to what an observer can see or know.”

“它们将复杂的伪装和信号传递与先进的问题解决能力相结合，所有这些都由与脊椎动物完全不同的神经系统支持，”他说。“它们使用伪装、伪装或墨云并不总是出于反射。这些策略可以根据环境选择性地运用，这增加了它们的某些行为可能与对观察者所见或所知事物的敏感性有关。”

Some cephalopod behaviors seem likely to involve tactical deception. An example is the split-body display in mourning cuttlefish, where a male presents courtship coloration to a female on one side of his body while simultaneously mimicking female patterns on the other side to fool a rival male.

一些头足类动物的行为似乎可能涉及战术欺骗。例如，哀悼乌贼的分身展示：雄性乌贼用身体一侧向雌性展示求偶色，同时用身体另一侧模仿雌性的图案来欺骗竞争对手。

Another example is the common cuttlefish’s strategy of flashing false eyespots to startle or scare away approaching predators. The cuttlefish only displays these false eyespots to visually oriented predators and not to those that rely on smell and taste to hunt.

另一个例子是普通乌贼会闪现假眼点来惊吓或吓跑接近的捕食者。乌贼只会向视觉导向的捕食者展示这些假眼点，而不会向那些依靠嗅觉和味觉捕食的捕食者展示。

Other cephalopod deceptions, such as releasing ink clouds to distract or confuse predators, appear strategic but may be part of a simple escape reflex and therefore not offer evidence of higher cognition — unless they can be shown to be flexibly deployed according to context, says Garcia-Pelegrin. For instance, pygmy squids appear to use their ink strategically when hunting crustaceans, either attacking through the ink cloud or inking on one side of the prey and then attacking from the other direction.

加西亚-佩莱格林表示，头足类动物的其他欺骗行为，例如释放墨汁云来分散或迷惑捕食者，看似具有策略性，但可能只是简单的逃跑反射的一部分，因此无法提供更高认知能力的证据——除非它们能够根据具体情况灵活运用。例如，侏儒鱿鱼在捕猎甲壳类动物时似乎会策略性地使用墨汁，要么穿过墨汁云攻击，要么在猎物的一侧喷墨，然后从另一侧攻击。

Sleight of Tentacle?

触手技巧？

Demonstrating tactical deception in a cephalopod would provide a powerful example of convergent evolution, according to Garcia-Pelegrin and colleagues. It would suggest that complex cognitive skills, possibly including a rudimentary form of Theory of Mind, evolved independently in vertebrates and invertebrates.

Garcia-Pelegrin 及其同事认为，头足类动物展现战术欺骗能力，将为趋同进化提供一个强有力的例证。这表明，复杂的认知技能（可能包括初步的心理理论）在脊椎动物和无脊椎动物中是独立进化的。

“This would reshape how we think about the evolutionary pathways to intelligence, while also strengthening the case for considering cephalopod sentience and welfare,” he says.

他说：“这将重塑我们对智力进化途径的看法，同时也加强了考虑头足类动物感知和福利的理由。”

To establish whether a behavior qualifies as tactical deception, Garcia-Pelegrin and colleagues propose controlled laboratory experiments that manipulate the presence, perspective, and attentional state of observers. Through this approach, scientists may be able to discern intentional, context-sensitive strategies from simpler, fixed responses.

为了确定某种行为是否构成战术欺骗，Garcia-Pelegrin 及其同事提出了一些可控的实验室实验，以操纵观察者的在场状态、视角和注意力状态。通过这种方法，科学家或许能够从更简单、更固定的反应中辨别出有意为之、情境敏感的策略。

Further, the authors suggest that scientists designing such behavioral experiments look to magicians for inspiration. Magicians specialize in misdirection techniques that rely on understanding what the audience sees, expects, or overlooks, drawing directly on Theory of Mind. Garcia-Pelegrin says that some animal deceptive strategies bear a striking resemblance to the techniques of magicians.

此外，作者建议，设计此类行为实验的科学家可以向魔术师寻求灵感。魔术师擅长运用误导技巧，这种技巧依赖于理解观众看到、期待或忽略的内容，直接借鉴了心智理论。加西亚-佩莱格林表示，一些动物的欺骗策略与魔术师的技巧有着惊人的相似之处。

“Jays sometimes feign caching to mislead potential thieves, which is similar to a magician’s false move,” he says. “In cephalopods, the split-body display is another example of dual signaling that feels almost theatrical.

“松鸦有时会假装藏食，以误导潜在的窃贼，这类似于魔术师的错误动作，”他说。“在头足类动物中，分体展示是双重信号传递的另一个例子，感觉几乎像是在做秀。”

“By borrowing experimental tools from magic, we can test whether animals manipulate attention in comparable ways.”

“通过借用魔术的实验工具，我们可以测试动物是否以类似的方式操纵注意力。

来源：左右图史