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Learn about 15 animals with big eyes from different groups, such as primates, amphibians, reptiles, and insects. See how their big eyes help them with night vision, hunting, and communication.
- Colossal Squid. A distant cousin of the vampire squid has the largest eyes in the animal kingdom and possibly the largest that have ever existed. The colossal squid is an elusive monster, weighing over 500kg, despite having no skeleton.
- Vampire Squid. We’ll be staying in the deep for the remainder of this list because this is the darkest place on Earth, and as we’ve discovered, large eyes are an adaptation to dark environments.
- Swordfish. Swordfish eyes are not only huge but also heated. The musculature that originally evolved to swivel the eyeball has been adapted as a generator, allowing the eyeball to stay more than 10°C higher than the ambient temperature.
- Ostriches. Ostrich eyes are not nearly the best in the avian order, but they are some of the largest. Like the owls’, these bulbous orbs have evolved to be highly sensitive in the dark, and so they don’t have nearly the daylight resolution of, say, an eagle’s, but are great at spotting lions hiding in the bush at 3 am.
- Tarsiers. These tiny tree animals stand out because of their big eyes that remain fixed in their skull, contributing to their sharp night vision. They have an immovable socket and the largest eye-to-body weight ratio among all mammals.
- Margay. The margay is nocturnal, preferring to hunt when it is dark. Their large eyes give them the clear vision needed to forage at night. Their sensitivity to light is six times greater than humans because of the tapetum lucidum or tissues present within.
- Geckos. Their eyes look increasingly large since most geckos lack eyelids to cover them partially. Instead, they have thin and transparent membranes covering each eye’s surface.
- Slow Loris. They have forward-facing eyes, which give them a three-dimensional vision. A layer of tissues (tapetum lucidum) in their eyes improves their vision in low light.
Jun 22, 2024 · What animals have the largest eyes on earth? We've done the research! Read about 14 fascinating, large-eyed animals!
- Colossal Squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) According to researchers, the Colossal Squid has the largest eyes ever discovered in the animal kingdom. They measure a whopping 27cm (11 inches) in diameter, roughly the size of a soccer ball and bigger than the average human head!
- Owls (Strigidae sp.) Usually, an owl might be the first one that comes to mind when we think of big-eyed animals. They are known for their large eyes that allow them to see at night and hunt.
- Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) The Swordfish is one of the animals with big eyes in the ocean. With eyeballs measuring up to 4 inches, eyes are significantly modified for vision to suit the deep-blue, cold ocean waters.
- Horse (Equus ferus) The horse is another terrestrial animal whose eyes rank up to one of the largest on the planet. The horse’s eyes measure nearly 2-3 inches in diameter, almost eight times larger than an average human eye, giving them high visual acuity.
Feb 8, 2024 · Vampire squids. Found at depths of 600 to 1,200 meters (about 2,000 to 4,000 feet), the vampire squid ( Vampyroteuthis infernalis) looks like a pink, cloaked figure—or like an umbrella—flying through the sky as it swims through the deep ocean.
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Sep 28, 2023 · Some of the most fascinating big-eyed animals include the tarsier, a small primate with eyes that are disproportionately large for its size; the giant clam, which has dozens of small eyes that help detect predators and plankton; and the leaf-tailed gecko, which has large eyes that enhance its ability to see in the dark and spot prey.
