WE MIGHT call a fickle, changeable acquaintance a chameleon, but the true champions of camouflage turn out to be cephalopods – octopuses, cuttlefish and squid. Unlike a chameleon, an octopus can duplicate the colour and texture of almost anything, making it a “living, breathing, swimming compendium of every camouflage and mimicry technique known,” writes Peter Forbes.
The natural armoury of deceptions as depicted in Dazzled and Deceived is astounding, and the history of research into the phenomenon is just as surprising. Starting in the 1850s in the Amazon rainforest, Forbes presents an authoritative account of research into mimicry, and brings…
