The eyes are a special organ that all living beings on the planet are endowed with. We know in what colors we see the world, but how do animals see it? What colors do cats see and what do they not? Is vision black and white in dogs? Knowledge about the vision of animals will help us take a broader look at the world around us and understand the behavior of our pets.

Features of vision

And yet, how do animals see? According to certain indicators, animals have better vision than humans, but it is inferior in the ability to distinguish colors. Most animals see only in a specific palette for their species. For example, for a long time it was believed that dogs only see in black and white. And snakes are generally blind. But recent studies have shown that animals see different wavelengths, unlike humans.

We, thanks to vision, receive more than 90% of the information about the world that surrounds us. The eyes are our predominant sense organ. Interestingly, the vision of animals in its sharpness significantly exceeds that of a human. It's no secret that raptors see 10 times better. An eagle is able to detect prey in flight from a distance of several hundred meters, and a peregrine falcon tracks a dove from a height of a kilometer.

The difference is also that most animals see perfectly in the dark. Photoreceptor cells in the retina of their eyes focus light, and this allows animals that are nocturnal to capture light streams of several photons. And the fact that the eyes of many animals glow in the dark is explained by the fact that under the retina there is a unique reflective layer called the tapetum. Now let's look at individual types of animals.

Horses

The gracefulness of the horse and its expressive eyes can hardly leave anyone indifferent. But often those who are learning to ride are told that it is dangerous to approach a horse from behind. But why? How do animals see what is happening behind their backs? No way - the horse is behind the back and therefore it can easily get scared and buck.

The horse's eyes are positioned so that it can see from two angles. Her vision is as if divided in two - each eye sees its own picture, due to the fact that the eyes are located on the sides of the head. But if the horse looks along the nose, then he sees one image. Also, this animal has peripheral vision and sees excellently at dusk.

Let's add some anatomy. There are two types of receptors in the retina of any living being: cones and rods. Color vision depends on the number of cones, and rods are responsible for peripheral vision. In horses, the number of rods prevails over that in humans, but cone receptors are comparable. This suggests that horses also have color vision.

cats

Many houses keep animals, and the most common, of course, are cats. The vision of animals, and especially of the feline family, is significantly different from that of humans. The pupil of a cat is not round, like in most animals, but elongated. It reacts sharply to a large amount of bright light by narrowing to a small gap. This indicator says that in the retina of the animal's eye there is a large number of receptor rods, due to which they see perfectly in the dark.

But what about color vision? What colors do cats see? Until recently, cats were thought to see in black and white. But studies have shown that it distinguishes well between gray, green and blue colors. In addition, he sees many shades of gray - up to 25 tones.

Dogs

The vision of dogs is different from what we are used to. If we return to anatomy again, then in the eyes of a person there are three types of cone receptors:

• The first perceives long-wave radiation, which distinguishes orange and red colors.
• The second is medium wave. It is on these waves that we see yellow and green.
• The third, respectively, perceives short waves, on which blue and violet are distinguishable.

Animal eyes are distinguished by the presence of two types of cones, so dogs cannot see orange and red colors.

This difference is not the only one - dogs are far-sighted and see moving objects best of all. The distance from which they see a stationary object is up to 600 meters, but the dogs notice a moving object already from 900 meters. It is for this reason that it is best not to run away from the four-legged guards.

Vision is practically not the main organ in a dog, for the most part they follow smell and hearing.

And now let's sum it up - what colors do dogs see? In this they are similar to color-blind people, they see blue and purple, yellow and green, but a mixture of colors may seem to them just white. But best of all, dogs, like cats, distinguish gray colors, and up to 40 shades.

cows

Many believe, and we are often told, that domestic artiodactyls react strongly to the color red. In reality, the eyes of these animals perceive the color palette in very blurry fuzzy tones. Therefore, bulls and cows react more to movement than to how your clothes are dyed or what color is waved in front of their muzzle. I wonder who will like it if they start waving some kind of rag in front of his nose, sticking, in addition, a spear into the scruff of the neck?

And yet, how do animals see? Cows, judging by the structure of their eyes, are able to distinguish all colors: white and black, yellow and green, red and orange. But only weakly and blurry. Interestingly, cows have vision similar to a magnifying glass, and it is for this reason that they are often frightened when they see people unexpectedly approaching them.

nocturnal animals

Many animals that are nocturnal have, for example, tarsier. This is a small monkey that goes hunting at night. Its size does not exceed a squirrel, but it is the only primate in the world that feeds on insects and lizards.

The eyes of this animal are huge and do not turn in their sockets. But at the same time, the tarsier has a very flexible neck that allows it to rotate its head 180 degrees. He also has extraordinary peripheral vision, allowing him to see even ultraviolet light. But the tarsier distinguishes colors very weakly, like everyone else.

I would like to say about the most common inhabitants of cities at night - bats. For a long time it was assumed that they do not use vision, but fly only thanks to echolocation. But recent studies have shown that they have excellent night vision, and what's more - bats are able to choose whether to fly to sound or turn on night vision.

reptiles

Talking about how animals see, one cannot keep silent about how snakes see. The tale of Mowgli, where a boa constrictor fascinates the monkeys with its eyes, is awe-inspiring. But is it true? Let's figure it out.

Snakes have very poor eyesight, this is affected by the protective shell that covers the reptile's eye. From this, the named organs seem cloudy and take on that terrifying appearance about which legends are composed. But sight is not the main thing for snakes, basically, they attack moving objects. Therefore, in the tale, it is said that the monkeys sat as if in a daze - they instinctively knew how to escape.

Not all snakes have peculiar thermal sensors, but they still distinguish infrared radiation and colors. The snake has binocular vision, which means it sees two pictures. And the brain, quickly processing the information received, gives it an idea of ​​the size, distance and outlines of a potential victim.

Birds

Birds amaze with a variety of species. Interestingly, the vision of this category of living beings also varies greatly. It all depends on what kind of lifestyle the bird leads.

So, everyone knows that predators have extremely sharp eyesight. Some species of eagles can spot their prey from a height of more than a kilometer and fall down like a stone to catch it. Did you know that certain species of birds of prey are able to see ultraviolet light, which allows them to find the nearest mink in the dark

And the budgerigar living in your house has excellent eyesight and is able to see everything in color. Studies have shown that these individuals distinguish each other with the help of bright plumage.

Of course, this topic is very broad, but we hope that the above facts will be useful to you in understanding how animals see.

Penguins are black and white, and so are pandas. Elephants are gray and tigers are red with black stripes. Everyone knows this, moreover, this is almost everything that some people know about these animals. However, there are exceptions to every rule and this also applies to the aforementioned animals. From time to time, in each species, an animal appears with a mutation that changes its entire appearance. Such a creature may seem like a strange anomaly, and may even become the ancestor of a completely new subspecies.

10 Brown Giant Pandas

The giant panda has only one subspecies, and that is the brown giant panda. It is also known as the Qinling bear after its habitat in China's Qinling Mountains. Qinling pandas have dark brown fur, while most giant pandas have black, and those spots that are white on giant pandas are beige or yellow on Qinling pandas. Scientists say that these differently colored bears probably appeared when ordinary pandas entered into consanguineous mating.
The existence of brown pandas has been known since 1985, but scientists declared them a unique subspecies only in 2005. There are various data on the size of the population of Qinling pandas. Hundreds of these pandas may be hiding in the mountains, but scientists have seen only five representatives of this subspecies at the moment.

9. Black penguin

There are at least 17 species of penguins on our planet, so these birds can vary significantly in appearance. The standard penguin is black with a white belly, but individual penguins may have colored feather crests, orange beaks, white wings, or bright yellow eyes.

But even among this diversity, the black penguin stands out significantly. It is completely black both front and back. When a National Geographic photographer saw such a penguin in 2010, he called it a "one in a billion" mutation. This penguin has melanism, an overproduction of melanin, the pigment responsible for skin color. A lot of birds suffer from a lack of melanin or from its excess, but melanism is extremely rare in penguins.

8 Venus Chimera Cat

One half of the Venus tortoiseshell cat's face is black. The other half is red and tabby. On the black half of the muzzle is a green eye, and on the red half of the muzzle is a blue eye.

No one knows exactly how Venus got this color, but many believe that she is a chimera. Chimeras are the result of two embryos fused together in the womb and are actually quite common in cats. In fact, most tortoiseshell cats are chimeras, and far fewer are cats.

Venus has attracted a lot of attention, especially those people who are puzzling over her secret. She has her own Facebook page with over 150,000 likes and a YouTube video that has been viewed over two million times.

7 Melanistic Zebras

Photo: Brenda Larison

Penguins are not the only black-and-white animals to have melanism. Some zebras also suffer from melanism, and such zebras are much more common than black penguins, although they are also quite rare animals. It is possible that melanistic zebras do not live very long in wild nature.

Unlike black penguins, melanistic zebras are not completely black. Instead, they usually have unusually wide and distinct black stripes. These stripes make the animal look much blacker than usual, but it's also worth noting that each zebra is unique in its own way. Zebra stripes are as unique as human fingerprints, so you won't find two zebras with the same stripe pattern.

6. Zebra with golden stripes

While too much melanin gives zebras very broad black stripes, too little leaves them with stripes of gold instead of black.

It's possible that you've seen photos of Zoe, the Hawaiian zebra, that have gone viral on the internet. The stripes on her body are bright golden. These photos have been photoshopped, but her true appearance is still striking. Zoey has golden stripes and blue eyes due to a genetic disorder known as amelanism. It suffers from a loss of tyrosinase, the enzyme responsible for the oxidation of phenols in plants and animals.

5. Giant albino kangaroo (Albino Eastern Gray Kangaroo)


Photograph: Rohan Thomson/The Canberra Times

Giant kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) are one of the largest kangaroo species. Their height can reach 210 centimeters, and they can weigh 54 kilograms. They are also capable of jumping up to 8 meters at a time, jumping up to 1.8 meters and reaching a speed of approximately 56 kilometers per hour.

Albino kangaroos are very rare in the wild, but one such kangaroo has been spotted in Namadgi National Park, southwest Canberra, Australia. Rangers believe it is a female and named her Renee. Unlike most gray members of her species, René has white fur and pink eyes.

Wildlife experts say albino kangaroos have little chance of surviving in the wild as they are easy prey for wild dogs and foxes. They are also more likely to develop skin cancer and sunburn, and are likely to have poor vision and hearing.

4. Half painted American Lobster


Photograph: Abigail Curtis/Bangor Daily News

American lobsters (Homarus americanus) are brown in color but turn red when boiled. An American lobster caught in Maine in July 2006 looked half cooked and half raw, as the right side was mottled and brown, while the left side was red.

The shell of American lobsters is a combination of yellow, red and blue pigments, and one half of this animal looked red because it lacked the blue pigment. The other half is left unaffected because each half of the American lobster develops separately. Half-colored lobsters are indeed a rarity, and the chances of encountering such a creature are about 1 in 50 million.

3. A tiger suffering from melanism


Photo: The Tribune (edited by the artist)

Here is another example of a strange animal suffering from melanism. This is a tiger, the world's largest cat species, which can weigh up to 300 kilograms.

Just as in the case of the zebra that suffers from melanism, tigers that suffer from this condition are not completely black. However, its unusually wide stripes are much more remarkable than those of the zebra because tigers are usually red or golden.

Photographers spotted one melanistic tiger in India's Simipal National Park during a tiger census in 2012. He belonged to an aggressive species of Bengal tiger and was the same size as non-melanistic members of his species in the same age group.

2. White deer Seneca (Seneca White Deer)

Prior to its closure in 2000, the Seneca Army Depot in Seneca County, New York served as a repository for World War II and Gulf War era weapons. Several white deer were trapped in the fence around the walls of the depot in 1941, during the final fencing of the depot. Thanks to favorable policies and controlled hunting, they account for 25 percent of the approximately 800 deer living in the former depot today, making them the world's largest population of mutated animals living in a single area.

The white Seneca deer do not form their own separate species. They are a species of brown white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). White deer suffer from leucism, which means they have no pigment in their fur, but their eyes are as brown as any other deer. This is a less extreme mutation than albinism, which would have given these deer pink eyes.

1. White elephant

White elephants suffer from albinism, but despite their name, they are not white. They are pink or reddish brown, and this rare mutation is more common in Asian elephants than African elephants.

In Asian countries such as Burma (also known as Myanmar) and Thailand, white elephants are traditionally considered sacred and not used for any form of work. Encountering such an elephant is believed to be a sign that the leader of that country or region rules in justice and strength and that the kingdom is blessed.

The albino elephant is also the origin of the English idiom "White Elephant", which means things of no real value despite their supposedly high value. There are stories that the kings of Siam (now Thailand) gave white elephants as "gifts" to people they wanted to punish. Since the white elephants were sacred, people could not use them for any kind of work and, of course, could not kill them. Thus, the recipients of such a "gift" simply continued to take care of the valuable gift until they became bankrupt.

In this post there will be scary, nasty, cute, kind, beautiful, incomprehensible animals.
Plus a short comment about each. They all really exist.
Watch and be amazed

SCHELEZUB- a mammal from the order of insectivores, divided into two main species: the Cuban flint tooth and the Haitian. Relatively large, relative to other types of insectivores, the beast: its length is 32 centimeters, and the tail, on average, 25 cm, the weight of the animal is about 1 kilogram, the physique is dense.


MANED WOLF. Dwells in South America. The long legs of the wolf are the result of evolution in matters of adaptation to the habitat, they help the animal overcome obstacles in the form of tall grass growing on the plains.


AFRICAN CIVETA- the only representative of the same genus. These animals live in Africa in open spaces with high grass from Senegal to Somalia, southern Namibia and eastern South Africa. The dimensions of the animal can visually increase quite strongly when the civet raises its hair when excited. And her fur is thick and long, especially on the back closer to the tail. The paws, muzzle and end of the tail are completely black, most of the body is spotty-striped.


MUSKRAT. The animal is quite famous, thanks to its sonorous name. It's just a good photo.


PROEKHIDNA. This miracle of nature usually weighs up to 10 kg, although larger specimens have also been noted. By the way, the length of the body of the prochidna reaches 77 cm, and this is not counting their cute five to seven centimeter tail. Any description of this animal is based on comparison with the echidna: the paws of the echidna are higher, the claws are more powerful. Another feature of the appearance of the prochidna is the spurs on the hind legs of males and the five-fingered hind limbs and the three-fingered forelimbs.


CAPIBARA. Semi-aquatic mammal, the largest of modern rodents. It is the only representative of the capybara family (Hydrochoeridae). There is a dwarf variety of Hydrochoerus isthmius, sometimes considered as a separate species (capybara).


SEA CUCUMBER. Holothuria. Sea-pods, sea cucumbers (Holothuroidea), a class of invertebrates of the echinoderm type. Species eaten are collectively called "trepang".


PANGOLIN. This post just couldn't do without it.


HELL VAMPIRE. Mollusk. Despite its obvious similarity with the octopus and squid, scientists have identified this mollusk in a separate order Vampyromorphida (Latin), because as soon as it has retractable sensitive bee-shaped filaments.


AARDVARK. In Africa, these mammals are called aardvark, which means "earth pig" in Russian. In fact, the aardvark in appearance very much resembles a pig, only with an elongated muzzle. The ears of this amazing animal are very similar in structure to those of a hare. There is also a muscular tail, which is very similar to the tail of such an animal as a kangaroo.

JAPANESE GIANT SALAMANDRA. To date, this is the largest amphibian that can reach 160 cm in length, weigh up to 180 kg and can live up to 150 years, although the officially registered maximum age of a giant salamander is 55 years.


BEARDED PIG. In different sources, the bearded pig species is divided into two or three subspecies. These are the curly-haired bearded pig (Sus barbatus oi), which lives on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra, the Bornean bearded pig (Sus barbatus barbatus) and the Palawan bearded pig, which, judging by the name, live on the islands of Borneo and Palawan, as well as in Java , Kalimantan and small islands of the Indonesian archipelago in Southeast Asia.




SUMATRAN RHINO. They belong to the equine-hoofed animals of the rhinoceros family. This species of rhinoceros is the smallest of the entire family. The body length of an adult Sumatran rhinoceros can reach 200 - 280 cm, and the height at the withers can vary from 100 to 150 cm. Such rhinos can weigh up to 1000 kg.


SULAWESI BEAR CUSCOUS. An arboreal marsupial living in the upper tier of lowland tropical forests. The coat of the bear couscous consists of a soft undercoat and coarse guard hairs. Color ranges from gray to brown, with a lighter belly and limbs, and varies by geographic subspecies and age of the animal. The prehensile, hairless tail is about half the length of the animal and acts as a fifth limb, which makes it easier to move through the dense rainforest. Bear couscous is the most primitive of all couscous, retaining primitive tooth growth and skull features.


GALAGO. Its large fluffy tail is clearly comparable to that of a squirrel. And the charming muzzle and graceful movements, flexibility and insinuation, clearly reflect his feline trait. The amazing jumping ability, mobility, strength and incredible agility of this animal clearly show its nature as a funny cat and elusive squirrel. Of course, it would be where to use their talents, because a cramped cage is very poorly suited for this. But, if you give this little animal a little freedom and sometimes allow him to walk around the apartment, then all his quirks and talents will come true. Many even compare it to a kangaroo.


WOMBAT. Without a photograph of a wombat, it is generally impossible to talk about strange and rare animals.


AMAZONIAN DOLPHIN. It is the largest river dolphin. Inia geoffrensis, as scientists call it, reaches 2.5 meters in length and weighs 2 centners. Light gray juveniles lighten with age. The body of the Amazonian dolphin is full, with a thin tail and a narrow muzzle. A round forehead, a slightly curved beak and small eyes are the features of this species of dolphins. There is an Amazonian dolphin in the rivers and lakes of Latin America.


FISH-MOON or MOLA-MOLA. This fish can be over three meters long and weigh about one and a half tons. The largest specimen of the moonfish was caught in New Hampshire, USA. Its length was five and a half meters, data on weight are not available. In shape, the body of the fish resembles a disk, it was this feature that gave rise to the Latin name. The moonfish has thicker skin. It is elastic, and its surface is covered with small bony protrusions. Fish larvae of this species and juveniles swim in the usual way. Adult large fish swim on their side, quietly moving their fins. They seem to lie on the surface of the water, where they are very easy to notice and catch. However, many experts believe that only sick fish swim in this way. As an argument, they cite the fact that the stomach of fish caught on the surface is usually empty.


TASMANIAN DEVIL. Being the largest of modern predatory marsupials, this animal is black in color with white spots on the chest and sacrum, with a huge mouth and sharp teeth, has a dense physique and a severe disposition, for which, in fact, it was called the devil. Emitting ominous cries at night, the massive and clumsy Tasmanian devil outwardly resembles a small bear: the front legs are slightly longer than the hind legs, the head is large, and the muzzle is blunted.


LORI. A characteristic feature of the loris is the large size of the eyes, which can be bordered by dark circles, there is a white dividing strip between the eyes. The muzzle of a lory can be compared to a clown mask. This most likely explains the name of the animal: Loeris means "clown" in translation.


GAVIAL. Of course, one of the representatives of the detachment of crocodiles. With age, the muzzle of the gharial becomes even narrower and longer. Due to the fact that the gharial feeds on fish, its teeth are long and sharp, located with a slight inclination for the convenience of eating.


OKAPI. FOREST GIRAFFE. Traveling in Central Africa, journalist and African explorer Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904) encountered local natives more than once. Having once met an expedition equipped with horses, the natives of the Congo told the famous traveler that they had wild animals in the jungle, very similar to his horses. The Englishman, who had seen a lot, was somewhat puzzled by this fact. After some negotiations in 1900, the British were finally able to purchase parts of the skin of a mysterious beast from the local population and send them to the Royal Zoological Society in London, where they gave the unknown animal the name "Johnston's Horse" (Equus johnstoni), that is, they identified it as a member of the horse family. . But what was their surprise when, a year later, they managed to get a whole skin and two skulls of an unknown animal, and find that It looks more like a pygmy giraffe from the Ice Age. Only in 1909 was it possible to catch a live specimen of Okapi.

VALABY. WOOD KANGAROO. To the genus Tree kangaroos - wallabies (Dendrolagus) include 6 species. Of these, D. Inustus or bear wallaby, D. Matschiei or Matchish wallaby, which has a subspecies D. Goodfellowi (Goodfellow wallaby), D. Dorianus - Doria wallaby, live in New Guinea. In Australian Queensland, there are D. Lumholtzi - Lumholtz's wallaby (bungari), D. Bennettianus - Bennett's wallaby, or tharibina. Their original habitat was New Guinea, but now wallabies are also found in Australia. Tree kangaroos live in the tropical forests of mountainous regions, at an altitude of 450 to 3000m. above sea level. The body size of the animal is 52-81 cm, the tail is from 42 to 93 cm long. Wallabies weigh, depending on the species, from 7.7 to 10 kg males and from 6.7 to 8.9 kg. females.


WOLVERINE. Moves quickly and dexterously. The animal has an elongated muzzle, a large head, with rounded ears. The jaws are powerful, the teeth are sharp. Wolverine is a “big-legged” beast, the feet are disproportionate to the body, but their size allows them to move freely through the deep snow cover. Each paw has huge and curved claws. Wolverine climbs trees perfectly, has sharp eyesight. The voice is like a fox.


FOSS. On the island of Madagascar, such animals have been preserved that are not found not only in Africa itself, but throughout the rest of the world. One of the rarest animals is Fossa - the only representative of the genus Cryptoprocta and the largest predatory mammal that lives on the island of Madagascar. Appearance fossa is a little unusual: it is a cross between a civet and a small cougar. Sometimes the fossa is also called the Madagascar lion, since the ancestors of this animal were much larger and reached the size of a lion. Fossa has a squat, massive and slightly elongated body, the length of which can reach up to 80 cm (on average it is 65-70 cm). The legs of the fossa are long, but thick enough, with the hind legs higher than the front ones. The tail is often equal to the length of the body and reaches 65 cm.


MANUL approves of this post and is only here because it should be. Everyone knows him.


FENEC. STEPPE FOX. He agrees with the manula and is present here in so far as. After all, everyone saw him.


THE NAKED DIGGER puts the manula and the fennec fox in karma and invites them to organize a club of the most feared animals in Runet.


PALM THIEF. A representative of the decapod crustaceans. Which habitat is the western part of the Pacific Ocean and the tropical islands of the Indian Ocean. This animal from the family of land crayfish is quite large for its species. The body of an adult individual reaches a size of up to 32 cm and a weight of up to 3-4 kg. For a long time, it was erroneously believed that with its claws, it can even crack coconuts, which it then eats. To date, scientists have proven that cancer can only eat already split coconuts. They, being its main source of nutrition, gave the name palm thief. Although he is not averse to eating other types of food - the fruits of Pandanus plants, organic matter from the soil, and even their own kind.