Study Shows How Animals See The World

A team of ophthalmologists and optometrists at MyVision conducted a study to see how six common animals see the world.

The study pulled information and data from a wide range of the latest scientific papers and research for six common animals: dogs, cats, goldfish, rats, houseflies, and the bald eagle. The team then used the research to design mimics of animals’ eyesight so we can see how they truly see the world.

Some interesting takeaways from the research include that rats can see two ‘views’ at once because their eyes move independently. Dogs aren’t colorblind like many believe, but they mainly see muted greens and blues. Flies also do not see in hexagons like is sometimes depicted in movies; they just see a blurry and pixelated room. Goldfish and houseflies can see polarized light, which allows them to see things humans cannot, like tension in materials or a rainbow of colors that comes through a window.

Researchers found that dogs see better in low light and are nearsighted. Dogs can see 240 degrees, which is 40 degrees more than humans.

Similarly, cats are very nearsighted but see a width much more similar to humans.

Goldfish see things extremely up close. Studies have found that goldfish are receptive to refractions of light, which is how they navigate and swim as the light reveals where other objects are. Goldfish also can see nearly 360 degrees around them, however, it is incredibly blurry.

Rats have poor vision, but their eyes move independently, meaning they can look at two things at once which can be a huge advantage to them.

In movies, flies are often shown as having honeycomb vision made up of lots of small hexagons, however, research shows their vision is far more blurry and pixelated and they have very poor far-sighted vision. Interestingly, flies were found to have one of the fastest visual responses of all the animals looked at. This is why they’re so good at swooping and flying away.

Finally, the bald eagle, the national bird since 1782, has arguably the most interesting view of them all. Eagles have incredible eyesight and can see 4-8 times farther than humans. This enables them to find food below and accurately swoop in on their prey. Eagles can see ultraviolet light. In the photo below, the tail of the rat is lit up from leftover urine, showing how amazing an eagle’s eyesight truly is.

To see the full study with pictures and videos, check out How Animals See the World!

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