What is it about deception that it pervades all life? Deceptions are conditions or actions that communicate misinformation and hide truth, thus misleading other individuals of the same or different species. By promoting false images or by obscuring true images, deception serves the interest, often the survival, of the deceiver. What are expressions and functions of animal deceptions? In the “arms race” between purveyors and recipients of deception, evolution works its magic.