In other words, they can make last-minute corrections during a hunt, or in our case, kill at a distance. Round pupils do not provide the kind of accurate vision that some other pupil shapes have, but this is made up for by the size and strength of their owners, a tendency to hunt in packs, or an animal's intelligence, which all help to overcome any limitations from round pupils. For this reason, good peripheral vision is less of an evolutionary necessity - for obvious reasons. However, animals with these kinds of pupils tend to be apex predators who face very few, if any, predators themselves. As predators tend to need better depth perception, this is something of a trade-off. If an animal has round pupils, it tends to mean that their field of view is not particularly wide. They are able to do this through a combination of retinal adaptations (tapetum lucidum) which give them increased stealth abilities in low-light levels. Large cats and dogs, such as lions or wolves, can and do also hunt at night. They also usually tend to be a feature of predators whose eyes are usually held high off the ground. Animals with these kinds of pupils tend to be active hunters who chase down prey mostly during the day (diurnal). Round pupils, like those of humans, are also common in other predators such as dogs and large cats. Daytime-hunting large predators tend to have round pupils Source: madaise/Flickr This list is not exhaustive and is in no particular order. One particularly interesting difference between animals is the shape of their pupils.īelow, we have highlighted 8 of the main pupil types you will find around the world. The animal kingdom is an incredibly diverse and interesting place where we can see many different evolutionary adaptations to diverse environments. What are the different kinds of animal eye pupils? This can lead, in extreme cases, to a non-round, sort of slitted pupil. Called coloboma, the pupil doesn't form correctly when the baby is in the womb. However, there are some rare genetic disorders where humans can develop pseudo-slitted pupils. We have evolved as active hunters who tend to hunt during the day, and we stand upright.įor this reason, our pupils are round, like other large predatory mammals, such as lions and wolves. For prey species with horizontally elongated pupils, the shape allows them to receive the most possible light from in front and behind, giving them a panoramic view of the world that helps them to detect predators.' - mnn.com. 'House cats have elongated pupils while, their taller lion cousins have round pupils.

We'll go into this in more detail further down the article. It also depends on the evolutionary past of the animal in question. Prey species will tend to prioritize peripheral vision over depth perception, and aquatic animals will have very different pupils to land-based animals. The shape and form of the pupils in animal eyes are directly related to how they eat, where they spend their time and, if a predator, how they hunt. Why do animals have differently-shaped pupils? A chameleon's eyes can move independently of each other, and each eye can move a full-360 degree.' - The Science Explorer. Their eyelids are joined in a circle around most of the eye, leaving only a pinhole for them to see through. 'Chameleons have very unique eyes - some of the most unique in the entire animal kingdom.

However, from our perspective, there are some very strange eyes to be found around the world. But this is, of course, a very human-centric concept.Īfter all, to a snake (if they have a concept of weird), the human eye would look strange.

There are many strange eyes to be found in the animal kingdom. Eagles and Falcons (widely considered the best).But this is a relevant term, as it depends on what the animal needs its vision for.Īccording to India Today, some of the best animal eyes in the world are as follows: There are many animals that can claim to have the best vision in the world. RELATED: 7 FASCINATING ANIMALS YOU'VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF What animals have the best vision? From vertically slit to horizontally w-shaped, there is a massive variety of eye shapes.īut why? How many different types are there and what purposes do these different shapes serve? You might have noticed that most animals' eyes are very different from our own.

Types of eye shapes