Wild Eyes Most eyes work in the same way, yet they can look very different. One oddity is the cuttlefish’s pupils, which are shaped like the letter “W.” Researchers wanted to know how this shape might aid survival. Tey found that it was better at taking in light from an area that was uneven from top to bottom, such as that from shallower to deeper water. A four-eyed fish only has two eyes, but each
Even when a red-eyed tree frog sleeps, it sees what’s going on. It has see-through eyelids!
has two sections. Tat means it can see below and above the water’s surface at the same time. Tat’s helpful for grabbing insects from the surface or tinier fish below. Position makes a difference. Falcon eyes
stare out from the front of the head, which gives the bird binocular vision. Te falcon gets information about the same view two times, once from each eye. Tis helps the falcon figure out distances as it dives toward a mouse, which has eyes on each side of its head. Each mouse eye sees a different view, which helps it keep one step ahead of predators. Other animals have dozens of eyes. A scallop
has about 100 eyes around the edge of its shell to watch out for danger. Te box jellyfish relies on all 24 of its eyes. Tey dangle from its body and help the box jellyfish skim the ocean floor without bumping into rocks.
A cuttlefish has some of the most unusual pupils. They are shaped like the letter “W.”
A Bug’s-Eye View Insects may have the wildest eyes of all. Tey’re big—the eyes of a damselfly take up most of its head—and have many tiny lenses instead of just one. Called compound eyes, each lens refracts light and creates a separate image. Te insect’s brain puts all the images together. “Many tiny lenses,” however, could be an understatement. A fly’s eye has more than 3,000 lenses and a bee’s eye has more than 5,000. A dragonfly’s eye has the most lenses of all: a whopping 30,000! Tese super eyes don’t give insects super
A chameleon’s eyes move in different directions at the same time, often one forward, one back.
16 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXTREME EXPLORER
vision. In fact, their eyes don’t focus the light very well. But these oddball eyes are incredible motion detectors. Te thousands of lenses helps an insect see even the smallest flicker of movement—like a fly swatter in motion.
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