Aggressive Mimicry and the Evolution of the Human Cognitive Niche

Abstract

The evolutionary origins of deception and its functional role in our species is a major focus of research in the science of human origins. Several hypotheses have been proposed for its evolution, often packaged under either the Social Brain Hypothesis, which emphasizes the role that the evolution of our social systems may have played in scaffolding our cognitive traits, and the Foraging Brain Hypothesis, which emphasizes how changes in the human dietary niche were met with subsequent changes in cognition to facilitate foraging of difficult-to-acquire foods. Despite substantive overlap, these hypotheses are often presented as competing schools of thought, and there have been few explicitly proposed theoretical links unifying the two. Utilizing cross-cultural data gathered from the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF), we identify numerous (n = 357) examples of the application of deception toward prey across 145 cultures. By comparing similar behaviors in nonhuman animals that utilize a hunting strategy known as aggressive mimicry, we suggest a potential pathway through which the evolution of deception may have taken place. Rather than deception evolving as a tactic for deceiving conspecifics, we suggest social applications of deception in humans could have evolved from an original context of directing these behaviors toward prey. We discuss this framework with regard to the evolution of other mental traits, including language, Theory of Mind, and empathy.

Deceptive Seduction by Femme Fatale Fireflies and Its Avoidance by Males of a Synchronous Firefly Species (Coleoptera: Lampyridae)

“…A fascinating example of interspecific deception is aggressive mimicry, which occurs when "the mimic signals a fitness benefit to the receiver and the mimic's signal is deceptive" ( [4], p. 4). Aggressive mimicry as an aid to capture prey has been described in a wide range of animals, including spiders [5], aphids [6], katydids [7], fish [8,9], and Homo sapiens [10]. In North America, predatory firefly females from species belonging to three genera of the subfamily Photurinae (Bicellonycha, Crematogaster, and Photuris) emit bioluminescent responses to the flashing signals of males of other firefly species (several species of Photinus are common prey, although males from other genera, including other Photuris species, are also hunted); in this way these "femmes fatales" attract the males and then try to capture them and feed on them [11,12].…”