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Much like the popular TikTok challenge where kids resist eating snacks, cuttlefish can do the same! Cuttlefish can delay gratification(满足)—wait for a better meal rather than be tempted by the one at hand—and those that can wait longest also do better in a learning test, scientists have discovered.

This fascinating report marks the first time a link between self-control and intelligence has been found in an animal other than humans and chimpanzees. It is published this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The research was conducted by lead author Alexandra Schnell of University of Cambridge, at the Marine Biological Laboratory(MBL), Woods Hole.

“We used a slightly-changed version of the Stanford marshmallow(棉花糖) test in the 1970s, where children were given a choice of taking an immediate reward(1 marshmallow) or waiting to earn a delayed but better reward(2 marshmallows),” Schnell says. “Cuttlefish in the present study were all able to wait for the better reward and tolerated delays for up to 50—130 seconds, which is even comparable to what we see in large-brained vertebrates(脊椎动物) such as chimpanzees(黑猩猩), crows, and parrots.” Cuttlefish that could wait longer for a meal also showed better cognitive(认知的) performance in a learning task. In that experiment, cuttlefish were trained to associate a visual cue with a food reward. Then, the situation was the other way round, so the reward became associated with a different cue. “The cuttlefish that were quickest at learning both of those associations were better at keeping self-control.” Schnell says.

Why cuttlefish have evolved this capacity for self-control is a bit mysterious. Delayed gratification in humans is thought to strengthen social bonds between individuals—such as waiting to eat so a partner can eat first—which benefits the species as a whole. But whether it may also be a function of most animals still remains to be further explored.