Animals with incredible eyesight
Some animals need keen eyesight to hunt, escape predators, or care for their young. Humans may have excellent vision, but Mother Nature has endowed some animals with vision humans will likely never have! Discover some animals with incredible eyesight.
The tarsier
The tarsier is a small nocturnal animal found in the rainforests of Southeast Asia. It has two enormous eyes relative to the rest of its body (if our eyes were proportionally as large as the tarsier's, they would be the size of a grapefruit). These gigantic eyes are fixed in the skull and cannot rotate in their sockets, but to compensate for this, the tarsier has a very flexible neck and can rotate its head 180°. The tarsier has extremely sharp eyesight and superb night vision; it has even been suggested that this animal can see ultraviolet light.
The chameleon
Chameleons are known for their ability to change color, an ability that helps them communicate and express their intentions and moods to other chameleons. These lizards also have very unusual eyes; their eyelids are fused together and cover almost the entire eyeball, except for a small hole through which they can see. Each eye can be moved independently of the other. This allows chameleons to watch an insect while also ensuring that a predator doesn't approach from behind. This means the chameleon has a 360° field of vision! When the chameleon sees potential prey, it focuses both eyes in the same direction, thus achieving stereoscopic vision.
The dragonfly
The arrival of dragonflies is often a sign that summer is about to arrive! Dragonflies have the most amazing eyes in the animal world! They are so large that they cover almost the entire head of the dragonfly and offer a 360° field of vision! Their eyes are made up of 30,000 visual units called "ommatidia." They can detect color, polarized light, and are ultra-sensitive to movement, which allows them to quickly discover any prey.
The felines
Of course, we're not talking about your big cat lounging on the couch in front of the TV, but rather wild felines like lions, tigresses, leopards... Some scientists explain that felines have excellent night vision thanks to a reflective wall located at the back of their eyes called the tapetum lucidum. When felines go hunting at nightfall, this wall increases the clarity of their vision, making their life easier on the hunt!