Editor's Abstract
- If you’ve ever peered into the eyes of a cat or a goat, you’ll have noticed that pupils can come in quite a few shapes and sizes. And those are just two among a great many animals – including geckos, toads, stingrays and cuttlefish – that demonstrate the diversity of pupil shapes in nature.
- With stylish and clever animation, this video from TED-Ed takes a brief dive into animal vision, detailing the wide range of pupil types in the eyes of the animal kingdom, as well as the fascinating ways they can shape perception and indicate a creature’s place in their ecosystem.
Notes
- This is fairly interesting, but hardly enlightening given that the subject-matter is fairly well-known.
- As you'd expect, night hunters have a much greater expansion ratio in pupli-size than day-hunters.
- Prey animals have horizontal pupils for 360-degree vision.
- Hunters have vertical pupils and use the paralax to precisely locate their prey.
- Hunter-gatherers and social animals have round pupils so they can focus as appropriate.
- There are some exceptions and other oddly-shaped pupils the purpose of which is unknown.
Comment:
- Sub-Title: "To understand how an animal sees the world, start with the shape of its pupils"
- For the full text see Aeon: Video - Pupil Diversity.
- Aeon Video.
Text Colour Conventions (see disclaimer)
- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2023
- Mauve: Text by correspondent(s) or other author(s); © the author(s)