21 Albemarle St
Mayfair, London W1S
UK
Individuals of numerous species face a constant battle to survive, find food, and reproduce. However, many don’t play fair – they deceive and manipulate others in order to lure unsuspecting prey, avoid attack from predators, coerce mates, and trick others into rearing their young.
Martin Stevens will discuss how widespread deception is in nature, including remarkable examples ranging from ant-mimicking spiders to cheating cuckoos. He will explore the latest developments in understanding the evolution of deception and how it works, along with a range of new discoveries. He will explain how our understanding of deception has been shaped by both Victorian pioneers of evolution and exploration and the latest scientific experiments, and yet how some mysteries still remain.