Why do cats have vertical pupils? - Emma Bryce

Summary by Krater

An educational animation exploring the wide variety of animal pupil shapes, explaining how different slit, round, and horizontal pupils serve as functional adaptations for hunters, grazers, and nocturnal creatures.

From the video

Answers: Why do different animals have different pupil shapes?

• animal eye anatomy
• pupil shape adaptations
• predator and prey vision
• vertical pupils
• horizontal pupils
• compound eyes and pseudopupils

What it concludes

• Pupil shape is a powerful indicator of the role an animal plays in its ecosystem.
• House cat pupils expand dramatically in the dark to take in available light and shrink into slits when bright.
• Vertically elongated pupils help ambush hunters, especially those close to the ground, judge precise distances to targets.
• Horizontally elongated pupils let goats and other grazing animals see a near 360-degree view to detect predators and obstacles.
• Round pupils prioritize a larger, detailed overall picture at the expense of extreme focus in specific dimensions.