1 00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:09,420 In the natural world, you need to be smart to stay alive. 2 00:00:11,980 --> 00:00:16,300 But we're only just discovering that some animals are brighter 3 00:00:16,300 --> 00:00:18,740 than we ever imagined. 4 00:00:18,740 --> 00:00:23,860 I've never failed to be impressed by nature's sheer ingenuity. 5 00:00:25,700 --> 00:00:27,180 Now, brand-new science, 6 00:00:27,180 --> 00:00:30,300 using innovative techniques and the latest technology, 7 00:00:30,300 --> 00:00:34,180 is revealing some surprising brainboxes. 8 00:00:34,180 --> 00:00:38,220 You can get bees to learn almost anything. 9 00:00:38,220 --> 00:00:39,820 Researchers across the globe... 10 00:00:39,820 --> 00:00:41,140 BOTH: Ah! 11 00:00:41,140 --> 00:00:43,700 ..are uncovering the mind-blowing tricks... 12 00:00:45,340 --> 00:00:49,820 ..and clever strategies that give certain species the upper hand... 13 00:00:49,820 --> 00:00:55,700 It is an animal showcasing its intelligence in front of your eyes. 14 00:00:57,340 --> 00:00:58,940 ..as they build their homes... 15 00:01:00,980 --> 00:01:02,380 ..navigate their world... 16 00:01:04,380 --> 00:01:05,900 ..and raise their young. 17 00:01:07,260 --> 00:01:11,340 It's time to get inside the minds of nature's savviest species. 18 00:01:12,980 --> 00:01:16,220 But I warn you, there's going to be a few surprises 19 00:01:16,220 --> 00:01:19,060 and some controversial candidates. 20 00:01:19,060 --> 00:01:23,300 But most importantly, it's going to give us an opportunity to learn 21 00:01:23,300 --> 00:01:25,740 from these Animal Einsteins 22 00:01:25,740 --> 00:01:27,580 and that's really exciting. 23 00:01:30,140 --> 00:01:34,900 In this programme, I'll discover how nature's smartest animals 24 00:01:34,900 --> 00:01:38,340 seemingly con their way to success, 25 00:01:38,340 --> 00:01:42,220 how cheetah cubs fool predators into thinking they're too feisty 26 00:01:42,220 --> 00:01:43,620 to mess with... 27 00:01:45,860 --> 00:01:48,700 ..how gulls rob us by reading our body language... 28 00:01:50,380 --> 00:01:53,180 ..and how an octopus can hide in plain sight. 29 00:01:56,060 --> 00:01:59,340 In the animal kingdom, you need to use every trick 30 00:01:59,340 --> 00:02:01,700 in the book to survive and prosper. 31 00:02:24,620 --> 00:02:27,940 Now, you might be wondering why I've chosen to play poker 32 00:02:27,940 --> 00:02:32,820 with a magpie, an animal with a reputation for being cunning, 33 00:02:32,820 --> 00:02:35,420 deceitful and, worst of all, a thief. 34 00:02:36,740 --> 00:02:38,100 But what about that reputation? 35 00:02:38,100 --> 00:02:40,300 Is it genuinely deserved? 36 00:02:40,300 --> 00:02:42,740 Well, not entirely. 37 00:02:42,740 --> 00:02:45,380 That fondness for stealing shiny things, 38 00:02:45,380 --> 00:02:48,340 it's all folklore, I'm afraid. 39 00:02:48,340 --> 00:02:53,060 And actually, as it turns out, they prefer things which are dull. 40 00:02:55,540 --> 00:02:58,220 All right, play fairly. 41 00:02:58,220 --> 00:03:04,180 They are undeniably very smart birds, members of the corvid family, 42 00:03:04,180 --> 00:03:06,620 famed for being the most brainy of all. 43 00:03:07,940 --> 00:03:12,580 They're constantly curious, always on the lookout 44 00:03:12,580 --> 00:03:14,980 for anything of interest. 45 00:03:14,980 --> 00:03:19,100 If you're out and about and you see a magpie up to no good, 46 00:03:19,100 --> 00:03:22,700 keep an eye on it. You're bound to learn something. 47 00:03:22,700 --> 00:03:27,300 Magpies work together to see off competition and will snatch 48 00:03:27,300 --> 00:03:29,180 a meal whenever they can. 49 00:03:31,100 --> 00:03:34,660 It's this crafty behaviour that's given these birds 50 00:03:34,660 --> 00:03:39,620 an undeserved reputation. They're simply opportunistic omnivores, 51 00:03:39,620 --> 00:03:42,460 using their brains to get by. 52 00:03:42,460 --> 00:03:45,620 And what we're dealing with here is our perceptions 53 00:03:45,620 --> 00:03:47,660 of a very smart bird. 54 00:03:47,660 --> 00:03:49,380 Thank you very much. 55 00:03:49,380 --> 00:03:50,900 At least they pay their debts. 56 00:03:58,180 --> 00:04:03,180 The animal kingdom is rife with deceit and trickery, though. 57 00:04:03,180 --> 00:04:06,700 And arguably the single most important reason to con... 58 00:04:07,660 --> 00:04:09,460 ..is to avoid being eaten. 59 00:04:12,420 --> 00:04:13,740 Wow. 60 00:04:16,020 --> 00:04:17,140 So alien. 61 00:04:18,820 --> 00:04:23,820 It's one of the most protein-packed meals on the coral reef 62 00:04:23,820 --> 00:04:27,180 and it comes without a protective shell. 63 00:04:27,180 --> 00:04:31,100 Yes, it's the octopus - the cephalopod. 64 00:04:31,100 --> 00:04:33,620 It has the remarkable ability to totally 65 00:04:33,620 --> 00:04:36,300 transform its colour and texture. 66 00:04:36,300 --> 00:04:38,820 It's a master of disguise. 67 00:04:40,940 --> 00:04:42,580 So how do they do it? 68 00:04:44,220 --> 00:04:47,380 Like other cephalopods, cuttlefish and squid, 69 00:04:47,380 --> 00:04:50,340 they share this extraordinary superpower 70 00:04:50,340 --> 00:04:53,140 of being able to change the colour of their skin. 71 00:04:54,820 --> 00:04:58,900 They do this to communicate with one another, as well as disguising 72 00:04:58,900 --> 00:05:02,620 themselves to creep up on prey or evade predators. 73 00:05:05,340 --> 00:05:09,820 Cephalopods have millions of ink sacs in their skin 74 00:05:09,820 --> 00:05:13,460 called chromatophores, each filled with colour pigments, 75 00:05:13,460 --> 00:05:17,500 which they can contract or expand to produce the desired colour. 76 00:05:21,620 --> 00:05:25,660 Not only that, octopus and cuttlefish have another trick 77 00:05:25,660 --> 00:05:27,060 up their tentacles. 78 00:05:28,780 --> 00:05:31,340 They can adjust their texture, too, 79 00:05:31,340 --> 00:05:34,460 using muscle fibres in their skin called papillae, 80 00:05:34,460 --> 00:05:38,500 which they can turn into all manner of three-dimensional shapes, 81 00:05:38,500 --> 00:05:40,900 mimicking the reef around them. 82 00:05:44,860 --> 00:05:48,940 For an octopus, these are amazing tools to conceal yourself. 83 00:05:51,220 --> 00:05:55,060 But it's knowing how to use them, which colour and pattern to choose 84 00:05:55,060 --> 00:05:57,580 and when, that's truly astonishing. 85 00:05:57,580 --> 00:06:02,420 They have a very sophisticated Ferrari-type brain. 86 00:06:05,780 --> 00:06:09,660 Professor Roger Hanlon is one of the top cephalopod scientists 87 00:06:09,660 --> 00:06:12,020 in the Western Hemisphere. 88 00:06:12,020 --> 00:06:15,780 He prefers the direct route on his commute to 89 00:06:15,780 --> 00:06:18,580 the marine biological lab in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. 90 00:06:20,300 --> 00:06:24,180 Roger and his team have studied this rapid camouflage behaviour 91 00:06:24,180 --> 00:06:26,380 in over 800 individuals. 92 00:06:27,740 --> 00:06:32,900 It's lively, it's bright, it's exciting and it's confusing. 93 00:06:32,900 --> 00:06:34,900 And we biologists love those things. 94 00:06:36,900 --> 00:06:39,740 He's spent the last 20 years in the field 95 00:06:39,740 --> 00:06:43,340 capturing these incredible masters of disguise on camera 96 00:06:43,340 --> 00:06:45,260 to later analyse in the lab. 97 00:06:46,980 --> 00:06:52,140 They're changing their appearance on average about 170 times per hour. 98 00:06:53,380 --> 00:06:57,100 Every one of those is a discrete decision the animal has to make 99 00:06:57,100 --> 00:07:00,020 based on what's around it and where the food and the predators 100 00:07:00,020 --> 00:07:03,020 are and deciding what pattern to put on his body 101 00:07:03,020 --> 00:07:07,140 so that it can be like the ultimate con artist. 102 00:07:07,140 --> 00:07:10,260 This requires some serious coordination, 103 00:07:10,260 --> 00:07:12,580 strategising and planning. 104 00:07:14,740 --> 00:07:19,420 However, despite all of this, there's one mind-boggling fact. 105 00:07:21,220 --> 00:07:22,460 Guess what. 106 00:07:22,460 --> 00:07:24,460 The octopus is colour-blind. 107 00:07:25,860 --> 00:07:29,460 So how do you achieve colour-blind camouflage? 108 00:07:29,460 --> 00:07:33,740 Roger and his colleagues have discovered that cephalopod skin 109 00:07:33,740 --> 00:07:37,580 contains opsin, a light-sensitive molecule 110 00:07:37,580 --> 00:07:40,740 normally found in the retina of the eye. 111 00:07:40,740 --> 00:07:43,700 So, can they see with their skin? 112 00:07:45,420 --> 00:07:51,100 The answer is...don't know...yet, but we're working on it. 113 00:07:51,100 --> 00:07:54,340 Exactly how the octopus senses its surroundings 114 00:07:54,340 --> 00:07:56,660 may still be a mystery, 115 00:07:56,660 --> 00:08:00,780 but we do know that their quick decision-making is helped 116 00:08:00,780 --> 00:08:03,220 by their highly efficient brain structure. 117 00:08:05,660 --> 00:08:09,980 They have one central doughnut- shaped brain and eight smaller 118 00:08:09,980 --> 00:08:14,660 brains, essentially nerve clusters called ganglia, 119 00:08:14,660 --> 00:08:16,780 in each of their eight arms. 120 00:08:16,780 --> 00:08:19,740 They can outsource some of this sensory processing work 121 00:08:19,740 --> 00:08:22,580 to their ganglia, creating one of the most 122 00:08:22,580 --> 00:08:26,020 neurologically efficient decision-making pathways 123 00:08:26,020 --> 00:08:27,660 in the animal kingdom. 124 00:08:29,060 --> 00:08:32,900 This allows them to change their appearance in just 200 125 00:08:32,900 --> 00:08:35,980 milliseconds, literally the blink of an eye. 126 00:08:39,860 --> 00:08:43,740 Roger's footage shows how they use this sensory ability 127 00:08:43,740 --> 00:08:48,180 to match both the colour and contours of their surroundings, 128 00:08:48,180 --> 00:08:51,620 effectively becoming shape shifters. 129 00:08:51,620 --> 00:08:55,140 The animal sees these spiky things in the distance, 130 00:08:55,140 --> 00:08:59,140 so it makes itself like a moving piece of algae or seaweed. 131 00:09:02,380 --> 00:09:05,660 These animals are really paying attention to making decisions 132 00:09:05,660 --> 00:09:08,340 on the go and they're taking in a lot of information and some 133 00:09:08,340 --> 00:09:10,500 of that information is metres away from them. 134 00:09:14,180 --> 00:09:17,860 But being able to change their skin colour and texture 135 00:09:17,860 --> 00:09:20,380 is not a foolproof con. 136 00:09:21,740 --> 00:09:25,340 Sooner or later, camouflage might fail. 137 00:09:27,220 --> 00:09:30,420 Sometimes they do catch the eye of a predator. 138 00:09:33,660 --> 00:09:35,460 So what then? 139 00:09:35,460 --> 00:09:38,260 Roger and his team have discovered the octopus 140 00:09:38,260 --> 00:09:41,980 has another clever ploy to buy itself time to escape. 141 00:09:43,460 --> 00:09:47,260 They flash something very dramatically and very quickly. 142 00:09:48,380 --> 00:09:52,140 In the visual field of the predator approaching them, 143 00:09:52,140 --> 00:09:55,340 what they were about to eat turns into something else. 144 00:09:56,660 --> 00:09:58,100 And if that fails, 145 00:09:58,100 --> 00:10:02,340 they have an emergency all-guns-blazing trump card. 146 00:10:02,340 --> 00:10:04,980 It's called "protean behaviour", 147 00:10:04,980 --> 00:10:09,420 named after the Greek god Proteus, the god of unpredictability. 148 00:10:09,420 --> 00:10:13,300 Which means by turning yourself into something so bizarre, 149 00:10:13,300 --> 00:10:17,740 the predator is conned into thinking you are not an octopus. 150 00:10:17,740 --> 00:10:21,540 They cycle fast through dazzling shapes and colours - 151 00:10:21,540 --> 00:10:25,500 this one reminiscent of a venomous lionfish. 152 00:10:25,500 --> 00:10:29,540 The point is to be bamboozling and unpredictable. 153 00:10:29,540 --> 00:10:33,660 Deciding whether to camouflage, startle or switch 154 00:10:33,660 --> 00:10:37,940 to protean behaviour requires ridiculously quick decision making. 155 00:10:39,460 --> 00:10:44,620 This superfast change is a bit analogous to a supercomputer, 156 00:10:44,620 --> 00:10:46,940 and this is not a vertebrate animal. 157 00:10:46,940 --> 00:10:50,100 We think all vertebrates are the smartest things around 158 00:10:50,100 --> 00:10:53,500 and invertebrates, that don't have a skeleton or backbone, 159 00:10:53,500 --> 00:10:55,100 are not as smart. 160 00:10:55,100 --> 00:10:56,140 Nonsense. 161 00:10:57,140 --> 00:10:58,900 Absolute nonsense indeed. 162 00:11:00,580 --> 00:11:04,340 And they have a final ruse in their repertoire. 163 00:11:04,340 --> 00:11:06,900 They may have evolved without a protective shell, 164 00:11:06,900 --> 00:11:10,940 but that doesn't mean they can't acquire one to deceive others, 165 00:11:10,940 --> 00:11:12,780 whether to hide from predators... 166 00:11:14,980 --> 00:11:16,260 ..ambush their prey... 167 00:11:19,700 --> 00:11:21,340 ..or make a quick escape. 168 00:11:24,020 --> 00:11:28,940 They are the only known invertebrates to use tools like this, 169 00:11:28,940 --> 00:11:33,300 placing them in an intellectually elite group alongside a mere handful 170 00:11:33,300 --> 00:11:34,820 of vertebrate species. 171 00:11:41,900 --> 00:11:47,100 What incredible animals - speedy and complex brain power, 172 00:11:47,100 --> 00:11:49,980 matched with sophisticated camouflage. 173 00:11:49,980 --> 00:11:51,860 It's a winning combination. 174 00:11:53,020 --> 00:11:56,860 Disguising yourself to be something you're not isn't just a tactic 175 00:11:56,860 --> 00:11:59,260 the octopus relies on, 176 00:11:59,260 --> 00:12:02,140 it's used by many a con artist. 177 00:12:02,140 --> 00:12:05,540 In fact, faking it can get you a long way. 178 00:12:07,460 --> 00:12:11,300 Forgery is one of the oldest tricks in the book. 179 00:12:11,300 --> 00:12:14,380 If you can make two things look identical, 180 00:12:14,380 --> 00:12:17,660 you can con people out of almost anything. 181 00:12:17,660 --> 00:12:20,860 Take these banknotes, for example. 182 00:12:20,860 --> 00:12:24,100 One is real and the other is a fake. 183 00:12:24,100 --> 00:12:27,500 So if I put you on the spot, which would you choose? 184 00:12:27,500 --> 00:12:31,420 Well, if you went for the single fiver, you could get yourself a nice 185 00:12:31,420 --> 00:12:34,220 slice of cake perfectly legally. 186 00:12:34,220 --> 00:12:38,780 But if you got greedy and chose the wodge here and tried to pass 187 00:12:38,780 --> 00:12:40,940 these off down the supermarket, you could get yourself 188 00:12:40,940 --> 00:12:42,780 into a lot of trouble. 189 00:12:42,780 --> 00:12:46,860 But this sort of visual deception has been going on in nature 190 00:12:46,860 --> 00:12:50,940 for millions of years with one difference, and that is, 191 00:12:50,940 --> 00:12:54,980 if you get caught out, the consequences are far greater. 192 00:12:56,380 --> 00:13:00,020 For one con artist in the Maasai Mara, in Kenya, 193 00:13:00,020 --> 00:13:04,300 pulling off a convincing illusion could be a matter of life and death. 194 00:13:09,020 --> 00:13:14,260 These savannah grasslands are teeming with prey and predators alike, 195 00:13:14,260 --> 00:13:16,300 including the cheetah. 196 00:13:17,940 --> 00:13:21,180 They may be the fastest land mammal in the world, 197 00:13:21,180 --> 00:13:24,860 but their young, who can't use their famed speed to escape, 198 00:13:24,860 --> 00:13:28,300 are particularly vulnerable to lions and hyenas, 199 00:13:28,300 --> 00:13:32,300 who would kill a rival predator's cubs, given half a chance. 200 00:13:34,180 --> 00:13:38,620 But there's a theory that cheetah cubs may have deception 201 00:13:38,620 --> 00:13:39,660 on their side. 202 00:13:44,380 --> 00:13:49,340 Sophie Sadera has been a ranger in the Maasai Mara for over ten years. 203 00:13:51,380 --> 00:13:53,780 I spot a cheetah under the tree, there. 204 00:13:53,780 --> 00:13:56,940 She's seen how cheetah cubs survive, 205 00:13:56,940 --> 00:13:59,980 despite living in such close proximity to other predators. 206 00:14:03,420 --> 00:14:08,020 This is a fully-grown one, but if you look at the babies, 207 00:14:08,020 --> 00:14:10,940 they have that fluffy coat, 208 00:14:10,940 --> 00:14:14,220 and very hairy at the back. 209 00:14:14,220 --> 00:14:19,700 It's this fluffy hair that could be a vital clue as to how they keep safe. 210 00:14:21,180 --> 00:14:25,980 These cubs are just a few months old, but younger, newborn cubs 211 00:14:25,980 --> 00:14:28,020 look decidedly different. 212 00:14:31,060 --> 00:14:35,700 Their blond mohican top, alongside their dark black flanks, 213 00:14:35,700 --> 00:14:39,060 bears a striking resemblance to another animal. 214 00:14:42,340 --> 00:14:45,900 When you look at the hair, starting from the head, the neck 215 00:14:45,900 --> 00:14:48,100 and then all the way to the back, 216 00:14:48,100 --> 00:14:51,900 it looks exactly like that of a honey badger. 217 00:14:51,900 --> 00:14:55,220 Honey badgers have a fearsome reputation on the savannah. 218 00:14:55,220 --> 00:14:57,260 BADGER GROWLS 219 00:14:57,260 --> 00:14:59,500 They're ferocious and aggressive. 220 00:15:05,780 --> 00:15:08,020 Even lions know to keep their distance. 221 00:15:10,780 --> 00:15:15,940 It's a very, very small animal, but it doesn't matter which animal 222 00:15:15,940 --> 00:15:17,580 will try to go for them. 223 00:15:17,580 --> 00:15:19,900 It doesn't matter how big it is, 224 00:15:19,900 --> 00:15:22,020 but they'll always fight back. 225 00:15:22,020 --> 00:15:24,900 Nothing messes with a honey badger. 226 00:15:24,900 --> 00:15:30,140 And they have a distinctive mane of coarse, erect, dirty blond hair 227 00:15:30,140 --> 00:15:31,580 on their backs and heads. 228 00:15:33,220 --> 00:15:34,420 Look familiar? 229 00:15:36,660 --> 00:15:40,540 The newborn cheetah cub's shaggy mane does look remarkably similar. 230 00:15:42,500 --> 00:15:44,620 So could it be more than a coincidence? 231 00:15:46,820 --> 00:15:50,900 Like others, Sophie believes it's a clever form of mammalian 232 00:15:50,900 --> 00:15:54,020 mimicry to con predators into keeping well clear. 233 00:15:55,540 --> 00:15:57,580 From her years on the savannah, 234 00:15:57,580 --> 00:16:01,060 she reckons that this cunning camouflage might work best 235 00:16:01,060 --> 00:16:03,020 with airborne threats like eagles. 236 00:16:05,700 --> 00:16:09,380 I've never seen a bird of prey picking up a baby cheetah, 237 00:16:09,380 --> 00:16:11,780 but I've seen a bird of prey picking up a baby lion. 238 00:16:13,220 --> 00:16:15,220 That colour of the honey badger 239 00:16:15,220 --> 00:16:19,820 on their backs really helps them because these birds of prey 240 00:16:19,820 --> 00:16:23,980 will be scared of picking up the honey badger. 241 00:16:23,980 --> 00:16:26,340 And perhaps it's not just visual mimicry 242 00:16:26,340 --> 00:16:29,460 that's keeping them out of trouble. 243 00:16:29,460 --> 00:16:31,500 They call like, um... 244 00:16:31,500 --> 00:16:33,740 MIMICS BABY CHEETAH'S HIGH-PITCH CALL 245 00:16:33,740 --> 00:16:36,220 CHEETAH CALLS 246 00:16:36,220 --> 00:16:39,020 That call is very different to that of a lion cub 247 00:16:39,020 --> 00:16:40,660 or young leopard. 248 00:16:40,660 --> 00:16:44,100 Biologists have speculated that the cub's call mimics 249 00:16:44,100 --> 00:16:47,580 that of a bird, allowing them to communicate with Mum, 250 00:16:47,580 --> 00:16:51,220 but crucially, remain under the radar to predators. 251 00:16:53,260 --> 00:16:56,500 Who knew that cheetahs are cheating rival predators 252 00:16:56,500 --> 00:16:57,980 right under their noses? 253 00:17:00,180 --> 00:17:03,820 And with only one in three making it to adulthood, 254 00:17:03,820 --> 00:17:06,740 they need every con artist trick in the book. 255 00:17:10,940 --> 00:17:14,020 Whilst cheetah cubs pretend to be something they're not to keep 256 00:17:14,020 --> 00:17:15,420 danger at bay, 257 00:17:15,420 --> 00:17:20,540 some animals use imitation to sneak into a nice, warm home. 258 00:17:23,540 --> 00:17:26,340 Like the Alcon blue butterfly. 259 00:17:26,340 --> 00:17:31,020 As a caterpillar, it emits rhythmical noises to con others. 260 00:17:32,460 --> 00:17:34,060 Just listen to this. 261 00:17:34,060 --> 00:17:36,700 RHYTHMIC PULSING 262 00:17:36,700 --> 00:17:38,340 It's remarkable, isn't it? 263 00:17:38,340 --> 00:17:40,660 Remarkable and essential 264 00:17:40,660 --> 00:17:44,940 because its musical abilities are absolutely imperative 265 00:17:44,940 --> 00:17:48,500 to its survival and that of the species. 266 00:17:50,660 --> 00:17:54,020 Alcon caterpillars must survive the European winter, 267 00:17:54,020 --> 00:17:58,860 which means not freezing to death and finding enough food until the spring. 268 00:17:58,860 --> 00:18:02,980 So they look to pull off one of the cleverest cons in the animal 269 00:18:02,980 --> 00:18:07,380 world by disguising themselves as ant larvae. 270 00:18:09,820 --> 00:18:11,980 Not the obvious choice, you might think. 271 00:18:13,940 --> 00:18:17,220 They produce a cocktail of chemicals which mimic the smell 272 00:18:17,220 --> 00:18:19,540 of the Myrmica ants' own larvae. 273 00:18:22,820 --> 00:18:25,460 Thinking one of their own has gone AWOL, 274 00:18:25,460 --> 00:18:28,900 the worker ants are then conned into rescuing them, 275 00:18:28,900 --> 00:18:32,980 bringing them back into their warm underground nest. 276 00:18:32,980 --> 00:18:36,140 Having tricked their way into finding shelter, 277 00:18:36,140 --> 00:18:41,100 the caterpillars then carry out another audacious scam 278 00:18:41,100 --> 00:18:43,180 in an effort to get fed. 279 00:18:43,180 --> 00:18:46,660 Yes, this is where that musical ability comes in. 280 00:18:46,660 --> 00:18:49,500 RHYTHMIC PULSING They create sounds 281 00:18:49,500 --> 00:18:51,060 that mimic a queen ant. 282 00:18:53,620 --> 00:18:55,740 Now considered royalty, 283 00:18:55,740 --> 00:18:59,380 they get preferential treatment over the ants' own larvae, 284 00:18:59,380 --> 00:19:01,820 being regularly cleaned and fed. 285 00:19:05,860 --> 00:19:10,380 Then when the warmer weather arrives in spring, they pupate, 286 00:19:10,380 --> 00:19:13,620 bid their hosts goodbye and make their way back 287 00:19:13,620 --> 00:19:15,220 to the great outdoors. 288 00:19:18,020 --> 00:19:22,900 A picture of innocence that belies their duplicitous start in life. 289 00:19:26,100 --> 00:19:28,020 Which goes to show - 290 00:19:28,020 --> 00:19:30,260 looks can be deceiving. 291 00:19:32,420 --> 00:19:35,540 There are some animals that you expect to be a bit sneaky, 292 00:19:35,540 --> 00:19:38,820 but come on, not sea otters. 293 00:19:38,820 --> 00:19:42,220 Surely butter wouldn't melt in their mouths. 294 00:19:42,220 --> 00:19:46,500 Look at this scene, here, a pup playing with its parents. 295 00:19:46,500 --> 00:19:48,300 Or is it? 296 00:19:49,540 --> 00:19:52,580 I've got to tell you, what's going on here is probably not quite 297 00:19:52,580 --> 00:19:55,100 as innocent as it might seem. 298 00:19:55,100 --> 00:19:57,060 Let me just rewind this. 299 00:20:00,900 --> 00:20:04,100 We need to take a look at what happened right before. 300 00:20:07,980 --> 00:20:11,580 Here's our cute pup, with its mother... 301 00:20:12,900 --> 00:20:17,020 ..frolicking in the Californian waves. Nothing sinister here. 302 00:20:19,260 --> 00:20:22,620 And here's a male cruising the harbour. 303 00:20:22,620 --> 00:20:24,540 This is clearly his territory. 304 00:20:26,660 --> 00:20:28,940 Now, he has a problem of sorts. 305 00:20:30,380 --> 00:20:34,860 Staying warm in cold water requires a high metabolic rate, 306 00:20:34,860 --> 00:20:39,940 which means he needs to eat a lot, 25% of his body weight each day, 307 00:20:39,940 --> 00:20:41,340 to be precise. 308 00:20:42,380 --> 00:20:47,660 So he has a choice - dive down to find it, expending time and energy, 309 00:20:47,660 --> 00:20:50,300 or devise a way to get a free meal. 310 00:20:52,140 --> 00:20:55,380 He waits for the female to dive on a foraging mission, 311 00:20:55,380 --> 00:20:58,660 leaving her pup alone at the surface. 312 00:20:58,660 --> 00:21:00,660 PUP SQUEALS 313 00:21:02,140 --> 00:21:04,500 This gives the male an opportunity. 314 00:21:08,580 --> 00:21:10,420 He's kidnapped the pup. 315 00:21:15,900 --> 00:21:20,460 When the mother surfaces with food and hears her distressed pup, 316 00:21:20,460 --> 00:21:25,180 of course, she gives up her goods in exchange for her baby. 317 00:21:28,740 --> 00:21:33,260 It's classic hostage-taking behaviour, deliberate manipulation 318 00:21:33,260 --> 00:21:37,260 of the females and surprisingly frequent in sea otters. 319 00:21:37,260 --> 00:21:41,460 They pick exactly the right time because they know what the outcome 320 00:21:41,460 --> 00:21:44,420 will be - free food. 321 00:21:44,420 --> 00:21:46,980 Kidnap in exchange for food 322 00:21:46,980 --> 00:21:51,300 is thought to be unique to sea otters, and it earns some males 323 00:21:51,300 --> 00:21:54,180 a large portion of their food. 324 00:21:54,180 --> 00:21:58,940 It's cruel, but it's clever and it proves the crime pays. 325 00:21:58,940 --> 00:22:00,860 And just like in our species, 326 00:22:00,860 --> 00:22:04,740 they're not afraid to do over their own for an easy life. 327 00:22:08,700 --> 00:22:12,660 Conning one's own kind isn't the preserve of sea otters. 328 00:22:12,660 --> 00:22:17,380 There's another species that kidnaps its own, not for food, 329 00:22:17,380 --> 00:22:19,660 but to protect the next generation. 330 00:22:21,140 --> 00:22:26,340 To see it in action, we're travelling to eastern Australia 331 00:22:26,340 --> 00:22:30,620 on the trail of a devilishly clever bird, endemic to these parts. 332 00:22:34,180 --> 00:22:39,180 The gregarious white-winged chough lives in a super-social family group 333 00:22:39,180 --> 00:22:40,500 of up to 20. 334 00:22:42,820 --> 00:22:45,460 And when two different families meet, 335 00:22:45,460 --> 00:22:47,900 something curious often plays out. 336 00:22:50,380 --> 00:22:54,820 What you're seeing here is an unsuspecting chick being conned, 337 00:22:54,820 --> 00:22:58,300 through the medium of dance, to join a rival gang... 338 00:23:00,740 --> 00:23:03,700 ..much like the Pied Piper of Hamelin. 339 00:23:05,180 --> 00:23:06,780 So, what's going on? 340 00:23:08,780 --> 00:23:11,060 It's crazy, it's actually too crazy to work. 341 00:23:11,060 --> 00:23:14,020 Biologist Dr Constanza Leon, 342 00:23:14,020 --> 00:23:18,140 from the Australian National University, studies chough society. 343 00:23:19,780 --> 00:23:22,660 Many times I feel like I'm serving a group of primates, 344 00:23:22,660 --> 00:23:26,620 just because of how many social interactions you observe. 345 00:23:26,620 --> 00:23:30,020 Most group members are teenage offspring, 346 00:23:30,020 --> 00:23:34,060 with just one dominant pair of adults that breed. 347 00:23:34,060 --> 00:23:38,300 Somewhere, there, is the breeding pair and all the rest are helpers 348 00:23:38,300 --> 00:23:41,900 that stay in the group and help their own parents 349 00:23:41,900 --> 00:23:44,780 to rear their siblings. 350 00:23:46,180 --> 00:23:48,620 Nothing too unusual about that. 351 00:23:48,620 --> 00:23:52,580 In nature, older siblings often help raise later broods. 352 00:23:52,580 --> 00:23:55,660 It makes sense, if you can't yet breed yourself, 353 00:23:55,660 --> 00:23:58,980 to support your brothers and sisters so that some of your genes 354 00:23:58,980 --> 00:24:00,220 are passed down. 355 00:24:01,260 --> 00:24:06,140 The difference is in chough society, new chicks are so needy 356 00:24:06,140 --> 00:24:08,740 that they simply won't survive without the help 357 00:24:08,740 --> 00:24:10,580 from the extended family. 358 00:24:10,580 --> 00:24:14,740 Scientists estimate it takes a minimum of seven choughs 359 00:24:14,740 --> 00:24:16,460 to raise just one chick. 360 00:24:16,460 --> 00:24:19,300 Baby choughs are very useless. 361 00:24:19,300 --> 00:24:21,180 They can't feed on their own, 362 00:24:21,180 --> 00:24:24,580 they can defend themselves and they can't even fly properly 363 00:24:24,580 --> 00:24:26,300 for a month. 364 00:24:26,300 --> 00:24:29,460 So they need as much help as they can get. 365 00:24:29,460 --> 00:24:33,860 So, for choughs, rearing chicks has to be a joint effort. 366 00:24:35,700 --> 00:24:39,140 Every member of the group helps with every breeding task. 367 00:24:39,140 --> 00:24:41,940 That's all they do all day, taking care of these fledglings. 368 00:24:41,940 --> 00:24:43,940 From preening, feeding, defending, 369 00:24:43,940 --> 00:24:47,460 that's their lives during the breeding season. 370 00:24:47,460 --> 00:24:50,740 This communal childcare frees up the breeding pair 371 00:24:50,740 --> 00:24:52,260 to produce another brood. 372 00:24:55,220 --> 00:24:58,380 But when times get tough and drought hits, 373 00:24:58,380 --> 00:25:01,540 foraging enough insects becomes even harder. 374 00:25:03,100 --> 00:25:07,180 So choughs turn to devious means to recruit extra labour. 375 00:25:08,660 --> 00:25:12,580 The key to their con is this innocent display here. 376 00:25:14,100 --> 00:25:17,180 The wing-wave tail-wag. 377 00:25:17,180 --> 00:25:20,020 A display looks like chough opening 378 00:25:20,020 --> 00:25:24,900 their wings and showing the white tips of their...of their feathers. 379 00:25:24,900 --> 00:25:27,020 And then they enlarge their eyes 380 00:25:27,020 --> 00:25:29,380 and they move their tails up and down. 381 00:25:29,380 --> 00:25:33,580 Usually adults display to their fledglings after they feed them. 382 00:25:33,580 --> 00:25:37,900 When they do this to young chicks, chicks follow them. 383 00:25:37,900 --> 00:25:40,900 And that's the key. 384 00:25:40,900 --> 00:25:45,140 Choughs manipulate the signals they use to feed their own chicks 385 00:25:45,140 --> 00:25:49,660 to cleverly lure youngsters from other groups into their family. 386 00:25:52,740 --> 00:25:54,700 Young choughs are easily fooled. 387 00:25:54,700 --> 00:25:59,420 They don't know really who's their family, so they can, yeah, 388 00:25:59,420 --> 00:26:02,300 they would follow any adult that displays. 389 00:26:02,300 --> 00:26:05,860 Kidnapping another family's youngsters to help raise your own 390 00:26:05,860 --> 00:26:09,700 chicks might seem like a dastardly trick, but it works. 391 00:26:09,700 --> 00:26:15,300 The bigger the group, the more fledglings a group can rear. 392 00:26:15,300 --> 00:26:19,900 So this kidnapping works as a way of making the groups bigger. 393 00:26:24,140 --> 00:26:27,700 There's a saying, "Many hands make light work", 394 00:26:27,700 --> 00:26:31,700 and there's no doubt that, like us, choughs value teamwork. 395 00:26:31,700 --> 00:26:35,100 Like mass-producing goods on a production line, 396 00:26:35,100 --> 00:26:38,740 choughs can churn out more chicks per breeding season 397 00:26:38,740 --> 00:26:40,380 with many labourers. 398 00:26:41,660 --> 00:26:43,140 You can't argue. 399 00:26:43,140 --> 00:26:45,340 Their behaviour leaves groups better equipped 400 00:26:45,340 --> 00:26:48,540 to ensure the future of their own offspring. 401 00:26:48,540 --> 00:26:52,500 It's certainly cunning, but is it intelligent? 402 00:26:52,500 --> 00:26:57,980 I think it does take intelligence to be able to recognise, 403 00:26:57,980 --> 00:27:03,020 not only who belongs to your group, but also make decisions 404 00:27:03,020 --> 00:27:06,100 about who you want to form a relationship with. 405 00:27:06,100 --> 00:27:09,140 I think that's a sign of intelligence, for sure. 406 00:27:09,140 --> 00:27:11,700 CHOUGHS CAW 407 00:27:16,860 --> 00:27:20,900 Choughs might exploit youngsters to raise their own chicks, 408 00:27:20,900 --> 00:27:23,980 but when it comes to protecting their legacy, 409 00:27:23,980 --> 00:27:27,820 bottlenose dolphins do something far more sinister. 410 00:27:30,860 --> 00:27:35,500 Around the world, there have been cases of baby dolphins dying 411 00:27:35,500 --> 00:27:37,380 in suspicious circumstances. 412 00:27:39,580 --> 00:27:42,020 Scientists were stumped. 413 00:27:42,020 --> 00:27:44,100 You see, they didn't seem to be diseased, 414 00:27:44,100 --> 00:27:46,500 nor had they suffered from malnutrition. 415 00:27:46,500 --> 00:27:48,500 So what was going on? 416 00:27:48,500 --> 00:27:52,180 Well, let me talk you through the crime file. 417 00:27:52,180 --> 00:27:55,660 Firstly, let's take a look at the victims. 418 00:27:55,660 --> 00:27:59,500 They had both internal and external bruising, 419 00:27:59,500 --> 00:28:02,860 some of them had broken ribs and a broken spine. 420 00:28:02,860 --> 00:28:07,500 What could have inflicted that injury in the sea? 421 00:28:07,500 --> 00:28:12,380 Well, the obvious prime suspect is a ship strike, 422 00:28:12,380 --> 00:28:15,940 but not agile young dolphins, like this. 423 00:28:15,940 --> 00:28:17,380 Could it have been predators? 424 00:28:17,380 --> 00:28:20,140 After all, there are plenty of sharks out there 425 00:28:20,140 --> 00:28:22,340 and very occasionally orca, too. 426 00:28:22,340 --> 00:28:25,100 But if a predator takes the trouble to kill its prey, 427 00:28:25,100 --> 00:28:28,140 it normally takes the trouble to eat its prey. 428 00:28:28,140 --> 00:28:33,100 But there was some other evidence on their bodies, in the form 429 00:28:33,100 --> 00:28:36,860 of this deep raking carved into the flesh. 430 00:28:36,860 --> 00:28:39,100 What could have caused that? 431 00:28:39,100 --> 00:28:41,580 Well, this is a dolphin skull. 432 00:28:41,580 --> 00:28:44,700 And if you look at the spacing of the teeth here, 433 00:28:44,700 --> 00:28:49,860 they almost exactly correspond to the spacing of these slashes 434 00:28:49,860 --> 00:28:52,500 of the young deceased animals. 435 00:28:54,100 --> 00:29:00,260 It appears that this was a classic case of cetaceal infanticide 436 00:29:00,260 --> 00:29:05,100 and the culprit was, in fact, another bottlenose dolphin. 437 00:29:09,180 --> 00:29:12,020 It's certainly disturbing behaviour. 438 00:29:12,020 --> 00:29:16,180 So why might dolphins kill young of their own species? 439 00:29:18,860 --> 00:29:22,740 Well, it's the males who are responsible for these attacks. 440 00:29:26,460 --> 00:29:30,340 And by killing calves they've not fathered, they'll bring the mother 441 00:29:30,340 --> 00:29:34,740 into season more quickly, ready to carry THEIR young instead. 442 00:29:38,020 --> 00:29:40,700 It's a devastating loss for the mothers. 443 00:29:40,700 --> 00:29:42,900 They're powerless to stop the larger males... 444 00:29:45,340 --> 00:29:46,980 ..or are they? 445 00:29:49,220 --> 00:29:52,260 Actually, the females may have a cunning method to help 446 00:29:52,260 --> 00:29:53,740 protect their babies. 447 00:29:57,380 --> 00:30:00,980 The females will mate with up to 13 different males. 448 00:30:02,380 --> 00:30:04,180 Now, this isn't unusual. 449 00:30:04,180 --> 00:30:08,020 In many species, females will have multiple partners. 450 00:30:08,020 --> 00:30:11,540 Often, this is attributed to sperm competition, 451 00:30:11,540 --> 00:30:15,380 a strategy to secure the best genes for your offspring. 452 00:30:15,380 --> 00:30:19,660 But interestingly, bottlenose females continue to mate 453 00:30:19,660 --> 00:30:24,300 with multiple males even after they become pregnant. 454 00:30:24,300 --> 00:30:27,580 There's a theory that this is a clever strategy, 455 00:30:27,580 --> 00:30:32,780 a con to fool each of the males into believing THEY could be the father 456 00:30:32,780 --> 00:30:36,620 so THEY won't harm the calf. 457 00:30:36,620 --> 00:30:38,580 It may not always work. 458 00:30:38,580 --> 00:30:42,020 For example, a new male might arrive from outside the area 459 00:30:42,020 --> 00:30:45,180 who could never be fooled into thinking he was the father. 460 00:30:45,180 --> 00:30:48,900 But infanticide is a rare enough occurrence to suggest 461 00:30:48,900 --> 00:30:52,980 that this con is successful most of the time. 462 00:30:52,980 --> 00:30:56,420 It's a smart deception that could ensure 463 00:30:56,420 --> 00:30:58,220 the survival of their offspring. 464 00:31:06,580 --> 00:31:12,460 So dolphins use sneaky mating as a tactic to protect their young. 465 00:31:12,460 --> 00:31:15,500 But what if you have to be plain sneaky in the first place 466 00:31:15,500 --> 00:31:17,980 just to be able to mate? 467 00:31:21,260 --> 00:31:24,260 Cuttlefish, just like the octopus from earlier, 468 00:31:24,260 --> 00:31:28,940 can also con predators and prey by changing the colour and texture 469 00:31:28,940 --> 00:31:29,940 of their skin. 470 00:31:31,140 --> 00:31:34,020 But they also use this colour-changing prowess 471 00:31:34,020 --> 00:31:35,820 to deceive each other. 472 00:31:35,820 --> 00:31:40,260 And they're particularly two-faced when it comes to mating. 473 00:31:40,260 --> 00:31:44,700 In giant Australian cuttlefish society, size matters. 474 00:31:46,020 --> 00:31:48,620 The larger males fight off the smaller rivals 475 00:31:48,620 --> 00:31:50,540 and get the ladies. 476 00:31:55,540 --> 00:31:57,900 So what's a little male cuttlefish to do? 477 00:32:00,460 --> 00:32:05,900 These sly con artists employ a daring ruse. 478 00:32:05,900 --> 00:32:09,980 They camouflage themselves to look like the females. 479 00:32:13,340 --> 00:32:18,460 Disguise on, with submissive female body language and nerves of steel, 480 00:32:18,460 --> 00:32:21,940 this one approaches the large male guarding a lady under his body. 481 00:32:24,180 --> 00:32:26,380 The big male thinks his luck is in. 482 00:32:26,380 --> 00:32:30,460 It's not unusual for males to guard several females beneath them, 483 00:32:30,460 --> 00:32:34,340 so he warmly invites the fake female into his lair. 484 00:32:36,140 --> 00:32:39,620 The sneaky male makes full use of his hospitality... 485 00:32:41,020 --> 00:32:44,260 ..and manages to mate with the female right under the nose 486 00:32:44,260 --> 00:32:46,220 of his far larger rival, 487 00:32:46,220 --> 00:32:48,260 without him ever noticing. 488 00:32:48,260 --> 00:32:51,180 Otherwise, he'd aggressively separate the duo. 489 00:32:52,220 --> 00:32:55,700 The sneaky male's life mission is now complete, 490 00:32:55,700 --> 00:33:00,140 ensuring that some of the next generation carry his cunning genes. 491 00:33:03,180 --> 00:33:06,740 Proof, then, that brains can outsmart brawn. 492 00:33:09,820 --> 00:33:13,060 But it's a daredevil, high-risk strategy. 493 00:33:15,980 --> 00:33:19,660 There's another species of cuttlefish, the mourning cuttlefish, 494 00:33:19,660 --> 00:33:23,500 which outsmarts rival males by using two-faced deception 495 00:33:23,500 --> 00:33:25,380 of a slightly different kind. 496 00:33:27,540 --> 00:33:32,620 By quite literally turning the other cheek. 497 00:33:32,620 --> 00:33:37,740 Oh, yes, they have the capacity to appear to be female on one side 498 00:33:37,740 --> 00:33:41,140 and male on the other at the same time. 499 00:33:43,820 --> 00:33:46,300 I discovered this con artist cuttlefish behaviour 500 00:33:46,300 --> 00:33:47,700 almost by accident. 501 00:33:49,500 --> 00:33:53,540 Martin Garwood is the marine biologist who first witnessed 502 00:33:53,540 --> 00:33:55,940 this sneaky new behaviour in his lab 503 00:33:55,940 --> 00:33:58,620 at the Macquarie University in Sydney. 504 00:34:00,060 --> 00:34:01,860 I had three animals in a tank. 505 00:34:03,500 --> 00:34:05,420 They were spread out - one, two, three... 506 00:34:07,180 --> 00:34:11,820 ..and I just happened to look over and the one in the middle 507 00:34:11,820 --> 00:34:13,660 had split its body in half... 508 00:34:15,060 --> 00:34:18,140 ..with male colours on one side 509 00:34:18,140 --> 00:34:20,140 and female colours on the other. 510 00:34:22,340 --> 00:34:25,860 The more I looked, the more I realised he was showing male colours 511 00:34:25,860 --> 00:34:29,460 to a female and female colours to this other male 512 00:34:29,460 --> 00:34:31,340 that was watching. 513 00:34:31,340 --> 00:34:35,260 To the rival male, it looked like two females hanging out, 514 00:34:35,260 --> 00:34:38,140 a potential double mating opportunity. 515 00:34:38,140 --> 00:34:42,060 To the female, she could see this male trying to court her. 516 00:34:42,060 --> 00:34:46,980 You see, using this side, they can approach that rival male 517 00:34:46,980 --> 00:34:50,900 and he thinks, "I'm in with a chance of getting a second female." 518 00:34:50,900 --> 00:34:55,300 And then once there, using this side, they can attract 519 00:34:55,300 --> 00:34:57,340 the female and mate with her. 520 00:34:57,340 --> 00:35:02,420 The key is to delay the rival male's advances until the con artist 521 00:35:02,420 --> 00:35:04,420 has mated with the female. 522 00:35:04,420 --> 00:35:07,340 It's a pretty bold, brazen con, 523 00:35:07,340 --> 00:35:11,780 requiring some sophisticated brain power to pull it off. 524 00:35:11,780 --> 00:35:14,260 The more I was watching, the more intricate it became. 525 00:35:14,260 --> 00:35:17,100 And he finally ended up mating with the female. 526 00:35:17,100 --> 00:35:21,780 So it allowed this con artist male in the middle to court a female 527 00:35:21,780 --> 00:35:26,180 and con a rival simultaneously, which was just kind of mind-blowing 528 00:35:26,180 --> 00:35:28,020 to me in that moment. 529 00:35:28,020 --> 00:35:31,220 This observation had never been documented. 530 00:35:31,220 --> 00:35:33,980 It was brand-new behaviour to science. 531 00:35:35,500 --> 00:35:39,100 No other animal on the planet has been observed carrying out 532 00:35:39,100 --> 00:35:44,460 this split display, appearing both male and female at the same time. 533 00:35:44,460 --> 00:35:48,140 That was really kind of amazing light-bulb moment. 534 00:35:48,140 --> 00:35:51,900 It was almost the cuttlefish behaviour equivalent of discovering 535 00:35:51,900 --> 00:35:53,380 penicillin in bread mould. 536 00:35:55,020 --> 00:35:58,300 The discovery may have come about fortuitously, 537 00:35:58,300 --> 00:36:01,100 but Martin had only seen this behaviour 538 00:36:01,100 --> 00:36:03,620 in the artificial setting of the lab. 539 00:36:03,620 --> 00:36:07,620 So he took to the ocean around Sydney Harbour to find out, 540 00:36:07,620 --> 00:36:10,420 crucially, if it happened in the wild, too. 541 00:36:13,300 --> 00:36:18,140 So I was scuba diving with a camera and came across a group of two 542 00:36:18,140 --> 00:36:20,820 cuttlefish and I got a little excited because I could see 543 00:36:20,820 --> 00:36:22,460 the split display was happening. 544 00:36:22,460 --> 00:36:26,500 He was half-male-half-female, but I hadn't yet seen a rival male. 545 00:36:28,060 --> 00:36:31,580 So I zoomed in on the cuttlefish so I could see the split display. 546 00:36:33,300 --> 00:36:36,260 And then out of the side came this rival. 547 00:36:39,660 --> 00:36:42,620 It was the proof Martin was looking for, 548 00:36:42,620 --> 00:36:46,540 that this complex con does indeed happen in the wild as well. 549 00:36:48,260 --> 00:36:51,300 But more than that, he discovered, in their subterfuge, 550 00:36:51,300 --> 00:36:54,900 an extra layer of complex decision making. 551 00:36:54,900 --> 00:36:59,620 The cuttlefish were evaluating their surroundings to calculate 552 00:36:59,620 --> 00:37:01,900 precisely when to use it. 553 00:37:03,300 --> 00:37:06,860 One of the most interesting aspects of this deceptive behaviour 554 00:37:06,860 --> 00:37:10,260 is it only occurs with a single rival watching. 555 00:37:10,260 --> 00:37:13,820 So when we saw larger groups of cuttlefish, 556 00:37:13,820 --> 00:37:16,980 with more than one rival, we never saw the deceptive con. 557 00:37:18,700 --> 00:37:20,740 And here's why. 558 00:37:20,740 --> 00:37:24,660 The deceptive con can only work when both the female 559 00:37:24,660 --> 00:37:29,660 and the competing male are perfectly positioned at 90 degrees 560 00:37:29,660 --> 00:37:31,100 either side of him. 561 00:37:32,340 --> 00:37:35,620 He must constantly assess his surroundings and adjust 562 00:37:35,620 --> 00:37:39,820 his position to stay orientated in such a way that the competing male 563 00:37:39,820 --> 00:37:42,660 can only see his female side. 564 00:37:42,660 --> 00:37:46,140 But what if another male arrives on the scene? 565 00:37:46,140 --> 00:37:49,020 With two male competitors at different angles, 566 00:37:49,020 --> 00:37:52,220 it's now impossible to maintain the ruse. 567 00:37:52,220 --> 00:37:56,100 Knowing the game is up, that clever cuttlefish would, 568 00:37:56,100 --> 00:37:58,300 in all likelihood, call off the con. 569 00:37:59,820 --> 00:38:02,380 It really leads me to believe that mourning cuttlefish 570 00:38:02,380 --> 00:38:05,220 are kind of expert con artists of the animal kingdom. 571 00:38:06,940 --> 00:38:10,940 But how do you measure the intelligence of this behaviour? 572 00:38:10,940 --> 00:38:15,300 So it's difficult to compare cuttlefish to humans and think 573 00:38:15,300 --> 00:38:17,620 we're not the same because they can't do maths like us 574 00:38:17,620 --> 00:38:19,460 or build cities. 575 00:38:19,460 --> 00:38:22,900 But their intelligence is perfectly designed for their own world 576 00:38:22,900 --> 00:38:24,740 and their own lifestyle. 577 00:38:24,740 --> 00:38:28,860 Normally, these complex cognitive behaviours happen in mammals 578 00:38:28,860 --> 00:38:31,540 like ourselves, dolphins, gorillas. 579 00:38:31,540 --> 00:38:34,020 So what cuttlefish can teach us about cognition 580 00:38:34,020 --> 00:38:37,540 is that a more simple life form can still have their own version 581 00:38:37,540 --> 00:38:40,380 of intelligence to get a leg up in the mating game. 582 00:38:43,340 --> 00:38:47,460 It's no surprise that underhand tactics are used left, right 583 00:38:47,460 --> 00:38:49,460 and centre in the mating game. 584 00:38:49,460 --> 00:38:51,980 After all, every animal's ultimate 585 00:38:51,980 --> 00:38:55,180 goal is to pass on their genes to the next generation 586 00:38:55,180 --> 00:38:58,460 and make sure their offspring survives. 587 00:39:00,260 --> 00:39:04,660 In the eastern United States is a female whose double-crossing 588 00:39:04,660 --> 00:39:08,020 is deadly - all for the sake of her young. 589 00:39:12,660 --> 00:39:14,300 We're in search of these. 590 00:39:16,820 --> 00:39:21,340 Fireflies are this really sort of friendly gateway insect. 591 00:39:22,860 --> 00:39:25,780 But it turns out that they have this really dastardly side. 592 00:39:25,780 --> 00:39:28,220 THUNDER RUMBLES 593 00:39:31,140 --> 00:39:33,580 And that's really exciting biology. 594 00:39:33,580 --> 00:39:35,260 Let's go find some. 595 00:39:36,620 --> 00:39:39,460 Professor Sarah Lower is a passionate advocate 596 00:39:39,460 --> 00:39:41,340 for the firefly's treacherous ways. 597 00:39:43,140 --> 00:39:45,980 But to understand their deceit, 598 00:39:45,980 --> 00:39:49,860 first, you need a crash course in firefly mating habits. 599 00:39:52,860 --> 00:39:58,340 The males are the ones up in the air flashing as they scout for females. 600 00:40:00,020 --> 00:40:03,020 Each species communicates with its own specific code. 601 00:40:05,780 --> 00:40:10,540 One species might have a long flash like this. 602 00:40:10,540 --> 00:40:14,220 Another species might have a faster flesh like this. 603 00:40:16,980 --> 00:40:23,740 It's like a Morse code that they use to identify and choose mates. 604 00:40:23,740 --> 00:40:28,620 The males are communicating with the females. 605 00:40:30,420 --> 00:40:32,940 They're the ones hunkered down in the grass, 606 00:40:32,940 --> 00:40:35,140 assessing the males flying along. 607 00:40:38,020 --> 00:40:40,420 When a female sees a pattern that she likes, 608 00:40:40,420 --> 00:40:42,860 she will reply to it with a flash of her own. 609 00:40:47,660 --> 00:40:51,380 The male, seeing the female flash, will flash again at her 610 00:40:51,380 --> 00:40:55,060 and they'll go back and forth and back and forth until the male 611 00:40:55,060 --> 00:40:58,020 finds the female and they mate. 612 00:40:58,020 --> 00:40:59,980 Now, here's the crucial bit. 613 00:41:01,900 --> 00:41:06,180 Most fireflies only speak their own species' language... 614 00:41:07,460 --> 00:41:10,260 ..except for one con artist on the block. 615 00:41:14,780 --> 00:41:19,620 Meet the Photuris firefly, commonly known as the femme fatale... 616 00:41:20,900 --> 00:41:23,940 ..for reasons that will soon become clear. 617 00:41:23,940 --> 00:41:27,380 They can speak the language of the other fireflies. 618 00:41:27,380 --> 00:41:32,580 They will eavesdrop on the conversations of these mating 619 00:41:32,580 --> 00:41:38,700 prey species and use those conversations to their own advantage. 620 00:41:38,700 --> 00:41:42,940 Immediately after a femme fatale has mated with her own species, 621 00:41:42,940 --> 00:41:48,980 she switches languages, signalling to males of other species, 622 00:41:48,980 --> 00:41:52,580 luring them in on the pretext of mating. 623 00:41:54,340 --> 00:41:58,860 But instead, she has them for dinner. 624 00:41:58,860 --> 00:42:02,220 Digesting their prey while they're still alive 625 00:42:02,220 --> 00:42:04,300 and sucking their juices out. 626 00:42:06,740 --> 00:42:11,180 We get the picture, Sarah - pure, unadulterated cannibalism. 627 00:42:19,980 --> 00:42:23,140 Now, we'll get on to why this species chooses to munch 628 00:42:23,140 --> 00:42:26,420 on its neighbours in a moment, but first, let's think 629 00:42:26,420 --> 00:42:31,140 about what it takes to be a multilingual insect. 630 00:42:31,140 --> 00:42:34,180 Well, it turns out that their system of flashing is very similar 631 00:42:34,180 --> 00:42:36,300 to our Morse code. 632 00:42:36,300 --> 00:42:38,700 In fact, there's been some flashing going on for some time. 633 00:42:38,700 --> 00:42:40,260 Give me a minute to translate. 634 00:42:41,660 --> 00:42:43,140 "Hello, stranger. 635 00:42:44,300 --> 00:42:46,940 "Do you want to come to my room... 636 00:42:48,180 --> 00:42:49,540 "..for coffee?" 637 00:42:50,700 --> 00:42:52,460 Be rude not to answer, wouldn't it? 638 00:42:52,460 --> 00:42:53,460 Give me a sec. 639 00:43:02,780 --> 00:43:04,660 Getting back to that code - 640 00:43:04,660 --> 00:43:08,500 I was able to translate that because it was Morse, in English, 641 00:43:08,500 --> 00:43:11,740 but it occurs in a whole range of different languages 642 00:43:11,740 --> 00:43:15,140 and that is perhaps what these fireflies are doing, 643 00:43:15,140 --> 00:43:19,500 because in order to properly mimic that system of communication, 644 00:43:19,500 --> 00:43:23,340 they would have to get the flashes, the duration of those flashes 645 00:43:23,340 --> 00:43:27,180 and the pauses in between exactly right 646 00:43:27,180 --> 00:43:30,020 to convince those other insects. 647 00:43:30,020 --> 00:43:31,660 Why go to all of that trouble? 648 00:43:32,660 --> 00:43:36,980 To understand why the so-called femme fatale has developed 649 00:43:36,980 --> 00:43:39,980 this ingenious strategy to consume her suitors, 650 00:43:39,980 --> 00:43:44,260 we need to track down those poor, unsuspecting males. 651 00:43:44,260 --> 00:43:49,340 We are surrounded by femme fatale food right now. 652 00:43:50,540 --> 00:43:52,780 Oh. Oh, yeah. 653 00:43:52,780 --> 00:43:54,180 There you go, there he is. 654 00:43:55,460 --> 00:43:57,180 That's a tasty morsel. 655 00:43:57,180 --> 00:43:59,100 You're coming with me, bud. 656 00:43:59,100 --> 00:44:02,180 Full of lucibufagins. 657 00:44:02,180 --> 00:44:04,180 Say that again, Sarah. 658 00:44:04,180 --> 00:44:06,620 Lucibufagins. 659 00:44:06,620 --> 00:44:10,820 That's it. They are the key to what's going on here. 660 00:44:10,820 --> 00:44:16,180 Most of the Earth's 2,000 species of firefly contain toxic chemicals, 661 00:44:16,180 --> 00:44:20,460 lucibufagins, that ward off predators and, importantly, 662 00:44:20,460 --> 00:44:26,100 protect their eggs from being eaten. Most, but not the femme fatale. 663 00:44:26,100 --> 00:44:29,140 Oh, there's a female. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. 664 00:44:31,100 --> 00:44:32,260 Ha-ha. 665 00:44:33,380 --> 00:44:35,660 So right there is a femme fatale. 666 00:44:37,660 --> 00:44:41,540 Femme fatale fireflies have lost the ability to produce the toxin, 667 00:44:41,540 --> 00:44:45,820 and so the only way that they can get that is to eat other fireflies. 668 00:44:50,020 --> 00:44:54,380 To protect her progeny, this multilingual assassin steals 669 00:44:54,380 --> 00:44:56,660 the toxins from other species. 670 00:44:56,660 --> 00:44:59,020 Toxins are chemically complex - 671 00:44:59,020 --> 00:45:01,420 they take a lot of energy to produce. 672 00:45:01,420 --> 00:45:05,540 So stealing them is more efficient than making them, 673 00:45:05,540 --> 00:45:11,900 an evolutionary stroke of genius that has earned the femme fatale her name. 674 00:45:12,900 --> 00:45:16,500 That is one intimidating female. 675 00:45:16,500 --> 00:45:19,540 But I've got to tell you, there's a twist in the tail of this story, 676 00:45:19,540 --> 00:45:22,780 which I absolutely love. 677 00:45:22,780 --> 00:45:27,500 Imagine for a moment that you are male of the femme fatale firefly 678 00:45:27,500 --> 00:45:32,060 species, flying around looking for a mate, but all the females 679 00:45:32,060 --> 00:45:34,340 are mimicking the prey species. 680 00:45:34,340 --> 00:45:36,500 How on earth do you find them? 681 00:45:36,500 --> 00:45:38,620 What's a male to do? 682 00:45:38,620 --> 00:45:43,900 Well, they mimic the flashing of the male prey species 683 00:45:43,900 --> 00:45:47,740 so they can fly down and very quickly mate with THEIR females 684 00:45:47,740 --> 00:45:51,020 before beating a hasty retreat. 685 00:45:51,020 --> 00:45:56,260 That is the ultimate double bluff - dress up as a wolf in sheep's 686 00:45:56,260 --> 00:46:00,140 clothing to get close to a wolf in sheep's clothing. 687 00:46:01,580 --> 00:46:05,420 But the million-dollar question is, is all of this multilingual 688 00:46:05,420 --> 00:46:08,540 deception nature or nurture? 689 00:46:10,740 --> 00:46:12,340 We don't know. SHE LAUGHS 690 00:46:13,580 --> 00:46:17,860 This could be an innate behaviour that's preprogramed genetically. 691 00:46:17,860 --> 00:46:21,540 This could be a learned behaviour and maybe they are thinking 692 00:46:21,540 --> 00:46:23,620 about which flash to emit. 693 00:46:25,140 --> 00:46:28,380 We don't know yet, but it's still sort of the Wild West 694 00:46:28,380 --> 00:46:32,260 and the new frontier of genetics research. 695 00:46:35,900 --> 00:46:40,140 Either way, the femme fatale's alluring flashes are essentially 696 00:46:40,140 --> 00:46:42,460 to safeguard the next generation. 697 00:46:43,700 --> 00:46:48,060 For other animals, though, luring in prey is very simply 698 00:46:48,060 --> 00:46:50,500 about surviving from one day to the next. 699 00:46:50,500 --> 00:46:52,780 QUACKING 700 00:47:00,460 --> 00:47:04,340 I've got a pond here, and I'd quite like to lure some ducks in, 701 00:47:04,340 --> 00:47:06,300 add to the biodiversity, 702 00:47:06,300 --> 00:47:09,780 so I'm trying to do so using this duck caller, here. 703 00:47:09,780 --> 00:47:14,140 What's interesting is that many of these devices are species-specific. 704 00:47:14,140 --> 00:47:17,620 There's a particular caller for a particular type of duck. 705 00:47:17,620 --> 00:47:22,380 And what's more, the person using it needs to know how to quack 706 00:47:22,380 --> 00:47:24,860 exactly like that species of duck. 707 00:47:29,220 --> 00:47:31,140 I think I need a bit more practice. 708 00:47:31,140 --> 00:47:33,860 And very obviously, I'm not going to be shooting them 709 00:47:33,860 --> 00:47:36,620 and nor am I going to be eating them. 710 00:47:36,620 --> 00:47:40,900 But there are many other species of animals that lure other species 711 00:47:40,900 --> 00:47:43,500 of animals in so they can eat them. 712 00:47:44,940 --> 00:47:46,980 CONTINUES CALLING 713 00:47:49,020 --> 00:47:51,740 As I just failed to demonstrate, 714 00:47:51,740 --> 00:47:55,660 to lure in your prey, you have to really know your prey. 715 00:47:57,740 --> 00:48:01,780 The alligator snapping turtle is the biological equivalent 716 00:48:01,780 --> 00:48:03,020 of a fishing line. 717 00:48:05,220 --> 00:48:09,940 It's evolved over millennia to be able to use its tongue as bait. 718 00:48:17,020 --> 00:48:21,100 This fraudster is a snake that mimics a spider. 719 00:48:21,100 --> 00:48:22,860 I kid you not. 720 00:48:22,860 --> 00:48:28,420 Until 2006, the curious structure on the spider-tailed viper's 721 00:48:28,420 --> 00:48:31,300 rear end was written off as an abnormal growth. 722 00:48:31,300 --> 00:48:35,940 But no, this brilliant deceitful arachnid-shaped appendage 723 00:48:35,940 --> 00:48:39,420 lures hungry birds to an untimely death. 724 00:48:44,660 --> 00:48:46,500 I'm in love. 725 00:48:46,500 --> 00:48:48,140 Look at this. 726 00:48:48,140 --> 00:48:51,580 When it comes to animal lures, surely nothing beats 727 00:48:51,580 --> 00:48:54,860 the beautiful orchid mantid. 728 00:48:54,860 --> 00:48:58,780 And for more than 100 years, much misunderstood. 729 00:48:58,780 --> 00:49:03,340 You see, we used to think that it was purely using camouflage, 730 00:49:03,340 --> 00:49:06,820 that it would sit on flowers perfectly matching its background 731 00:49:06,820 --> 00:49:10,460 and any pollinators that approached those flowers would be seized 732 00:49:10,460 --> 00:49:14,380 instantaneously and munched up. 733 00:49:16,140 --> 00:49:18,100 It turns out that we were wrong. 734 00:49:18,100 --> 00:49:20,420 They're not camouflaged on a flower. 735 00:49:20,420 --> 00:49:23,460 They're mimicking an actual flower. 736 00:49:23,460 --> 00:49:25,300 How does it do it? 737 00:49:25,300 --> 00:49:28,380 Well, those insects spot the mantid and their little brains 738 00:49:28,380 --> 00:49:32,460 say, "Whoopee, masses of nectar. Here we go." 739 00:49:32,460 --> 00:49:37,220 And then when it gets closer, they get to see its body - what a body. 740 00:49:37,220 --> 00:49:40,700 Can you see those ephemeral flanges, there, 741 00:49:40,700 --> 00:49:44,940 the way that its legs have thickened to look like petals? 742 00:49:44,940 --> 00:49:48,300 Well, they convince those insects that it is a flower, 743 00:49:48,300 --> 00:49:51,700 and when they try to pitch on it, it's the last thing they do. 744 00:49:54,580 --> 00:49:56,820 But do you know what's even more clever? 745 00:49:56,820 --> 00:50:01,940 The mantid is even better at attracting insects than a flower. 746 00:50:01,940 --> 00:50:06,220 You see, this insect emits pheromones to attract 747 00:50:06,220 --> 00:50:09,780 those pollinators with a greater degree of efficiency 748 00:50:09,780 --> 00:50:11,340 than the flowers do. 749 00:50:11,340 --> 00:50:13,060 They've beaten botany. 750 00:50:13,060 --> 00:50:14,540 You couldn't make it up. 751 00:50:18,500 --> 00:50:22,060 Most animals, though, don't have thousands of years of evolution 752 00:50:22,060 --> 00:50:25,460 offering them the perfect alluring body. 753 00:50:25,460 --> 00:50:30,740 No, most have to think a little more laterally and use their minds. 754 00:50:30,740 --> 00:50:33,540 They have to strategise to get dinner. 755 00:50:36,420 --> 00:50:39,860 It's something not lost on the hoodwinking heron family. 756 00:50:42,900 --> 00:50:45,540 Take these black egrets. 757 00:50:45,540 --> 00:50:50,220 They're partial to the smallest fish in this big pond, 758 00:50:50,220 --> 00:50:52,180 which are quite hard to find. 759 00:50:54,860 --> 00:50:58,780 But knowing that their nervous prey like to shelter in a safe, 760 00:50:58,780 --> 00:51:03,220 shady spot, they create their own shade 761 00:51:03,220 --> 00:51:06,100 to con fish within gobbling range. 762 00:51:07,300 --> 00:51:08,700 Clever. 763 00:51:11,780 --> 00:51:15,380 Other species of heron use food to con prey. 764 00:51:16,620 --> 00:51:20,060 Hank is a wild night heron who makes the most 765 00:51:20,060 --> 00:51:24,460 of living a comfortable life in an all-inclusive Hawaiian resort. 766 00:51:24,460 --> 00:51:26,820 And he, too, gets free meals, 767 00:51:26,820 --> 00:51:28,900 if he can beat the swans. 768 00:51:33,260 --> 00:51:35,100 Now he faces a choice... 769 00:51:37,460 --> 00:51:42,420 ..eat the food or forego it to lure in something tastier. 770 00:51:46,700 --> 00:51:50,940 He uses the bread to con fish into coming to the surface. 771 00:51:56,620 --> 00:51:58,260 That's more like it. 772 00:51:58,260 --> 00:52:00,300 Protein over carbs any day. 773 00:52:03,740 --> 00:52:06,140 Planning has paid off. 774 00:52:07,820 --> 00:52:10,420 Bait fishing like this has been reported 775 00:52:10,420 --> 00:52:12,780 in several species of wild heron. 776 00:52:12,780 --> 00:52:15,180 It takes supreme self-control... 777 00:52:17,540 --> 00:52:20,380 ..and the ability to consider the future... 778 00:52:22,100 --> 00:52:25,900 ..both marks of complex behaviour and problem-solving ability. 779 00:52:32,580 --> 00:52:37,220 Luring prey to come to you is one approach to finding food, 780 00:52:37,220 --> 00:52:42,060 but some con artists simply use old-fashioned criminal tactics 781 00:52:42,060 --> 00:52:43,660 and steal instead. 782 00:52:49,420 --> 00:52:51,420 Like the gulls, 783 00:52:51,420 --> 00:52:54,740 in particular the lesser black-backed dull 784 00:52:54,740 --> 00:52:56,500 and the herring gull. 785 00:52:59,380 --> 00:53:02,780 These canny birds don't just scavenge our leftovers 786 00:53:02,780 --> 00:53:06,380 and there's more to their thieving than a simple snatch and grab. 787 00:53:06,380 --> 00:53:08,740 LAUGHTER 788 00:53:08,740 --> 00:53:10,980 To work out how to rob a bakery, 789 00:53:10,980 --> 00:53:13,620 you have to be brainy as well as bold. 790 00:53:16,100 --> 00:53:20,500 As generalists with varied diets, they adapt quickly to new foods, 791 00:53:20,500 --> 00:53:22,580 giving them the edge over other birds. 792 00:53:24,740 --> 00:53:29,460 Unsurprisingly, their brazen daylight robbery has given gulls 793 00:53:29,460 --> 00:53:31,300 a pretty poor reputation. 794 00:53:32,300 --> 00:53:35,740 But with coastal gull populations in sharp decline, 795 00:53:35,740 --> 00:53:40,820 taking advantage of our urban areas has been a vital lifeline, 796 00:53:40,820 --> 00:53:42,660 as well as a shrewd move. 797 00:53:42,660 --> 00:53:46,740 Here, they only need forage for two to three hours a day. 798 00:53:46,740 --> 00:53:51,620 Hundreds of thousands are now living it up in towns across Europe, 799 00:53:51,620 --> 00:53:54,020 sampling the gastronomic delights. 800 00:53:55,260 --> 00:53:59,460 Adjusting to a new habitat normally takes millennia of evolution. 801 00:53:59,460 --> 00:54:03,500 Only the smartest of species have, in a few short decades, 802 00:54:03,500 --> 00:54:06,180 learned to thrive in our concrete world. 803 00:54:10,900 --> 00:54:14,380 So thief or brilliant opportunist? 804 00:54:14,380 --> 00:54:18,900 Just how do these accomplished con artists pull it off? 805 00:54:18,900 --> 00:54:22,820 We really hate it when gulls take our food. 806 00:54:22,820 --> 00:54:26,620 I suppose you could liken it to how a human mugger 807 00:54:26,620 --> 00:54:29,780 will take something from another person. 808 00:54:32,660 --> 00:54:35,860 Obviously, gulls don't have this sense of morality, so we can't 809 00:54:35,860 --> 00:54:38,940 really compare them to humans. 810 00:54:38,940 --> 00:54:42,860 Exeter University researcher Madeleine Goumas 811 00:54:42,860 --> 00:54:46,580 suspected there was something clever about their thieving behaviour. 812 00:54:48,100 --> 00:54:51,980 So she made it her mission to study their modus operandi. 813 00:54:51,980 --> 00:54:55,660 Having seen gulls take food from people, from behind, 814 00:54:55,660 --> 00:54:58,620 I wondered if they were paying attention to human gaze. 815 00:55:01,900 --> 00:55:04,300 Gulls have excellent eyesight. 816 00:55:04,300 --> 00:55:08,580 So if you feel like you're being watched, you probably are. 817 00:55:12,860 --> 00:55:17,740 Madeleine hypothesised that, just like the most adept pickpocket, 818 00:55:17,740 --> 00:55:21,180 gulls only target victims who aren't paying attention 819 00:55:21,180 --> 00:55:23,380 to their surroundings. 820 00:55:23,380 --> 00:55:26,460 I devised an experiment to test this. 821 00:55:26,460 --> 00:55:31,860 I got a bag of chips and I put them on the ground in front of me. 822 00:55:31,860 --> 00:55:35,780 After placing a tempting belt on the floor, 823 00:55:35,780 --> 00:55:39,460 she observed how the gulls responded when she looked at them 824 00:55:39,460 --> 00:55:40,900 and when she didn't. 825 00:55:43,140 --> 00:55:48,340 As Madeleine suspected, most gulls are more scheming than we thought. 826 00:55:48,340 --> 00:55:52,860 In fact, they're astute observers of eye line and body language. 827 00:55:56,740 --> 00:56:00,580 Her latest research has found that herring gulls 828 00:56:00,580 --> 00:56:02,380 actively avoid our gaze. 829 00:56:02,380 --> 00:56:05,460 They play the waiting game and won't approach 830 00:56:05,460 --> 00:56:07,780 food until we're off guard. 831 00:56:07,780 --> 00:56:12,220 They know where we're looking and they're using this information 832 00:56:12,220 --> 00:56:15,420 to be able to get the food without being detected. 833 00:56:15,420 --> 00:56:19,340 These wily birds constantly keep an eye out, 834 00:56:19,340 --> 00:56:23,100 waiting until our backs are turned to take their chance. 835 00:56:23,100 --> 00:56:26,860 Madeleine's research showed that only a quarter of gulls 836 00:56:26,860 --> 00:56:30,260 will touch food when a human is watching. 837 00:56:30,260 --> 00:56:33,100 Obviously, there are gulls that do snatch food, 838 00:56:33,100 --> 00:56:35,740 but they seem to be in the minority. 839 00:56:35,740 --> 00:56:39,020 We know from some anecdotal evidence that it's the same gulls 840 00:56:39,020 --> 00:56:41,780 the tend to take people's food. 841 00:56:41,780 --> 00:56:44,100 A species of brazen thieves? 842 00:56:44,100 --> 00:56:45,500 No. 843 00:56:45,500 --> 00:56:49,140 Only the reckless personalities dare take big risks. 844 00:56:49,140 --> 00:56:53,460 Evolution rewards the right amount of caution. 845 00:56:53,460 --> 00:56:56,860 Too bold risks harm, too meek goes hungry. 846 00:56:59,660 --> 00:57:03,900 Like any successful con artist, most gulls only make a move 847 00:57:03,900 --> 00:57:05,380 when the coast is clear. 848 00:57:06,820 --> 00:57:09,700 So next time you're out clutching a precious pasty, 849 00:57:09,700 --> 00:57:14,740 keep your wits about you and stare any hungry-looking gulls right in the eye. 850 00:57:22,460 --> 00:57:26,500 From shrewd trickery to the most elegant of deceptions... 851 00:57:28,140 --> 00:57:31,780 ..you have to admire the cunning solutions that our animal Einsteins 852 00:57:31,780 --> 00:57:34,620 have evolved to overcome life's challenges. 853 00:57:34,620 --> 00:57:40,100 Clever duplicity and apparently criminal tactics are central 854 00:57:40,100 --> 00:57:43,260 in allowing animals to eat well, 855 00:57:43,260 --> 00:57:44,580 cheat death 856 00:57:44,580 --> 00:57:47,460 and successfully pass on their genes. 857 00:57:47,460 --> 00:57:51,580 Now, if you've pulled a few cons and you've survived in this big 858 00:57:51,580 --> 00:57:56,180 wide world, then very obviously you're ahead in the game of life. 859 00:57:56,180 --> 00:58:00,420 And as we've seen for some animal species, a little bit of camouflage 860 00:58:00,420 --> 00:58:03,140 can confer an enormous advantage. 861 00:58:03,140 --> 00:58:06,060 But you know, with a bit of artistic licence, 862 00:58:06,060 --> 00:58:09,860 even we humans can give some species a run for their money. 863 00:58:11,820 --> 00:58:13,420 I could have been predated. 864 00:58:19,540 --> 00:58:23,020 Next time, I'll discover the clever methods that animals use to get 865 00:58:23,020 --> 00:58:26,260 from A to B and how they find their way, 866 00:58:26,260 --> 00:58:29,900 as we reveal more ingenious animal Einsteins.