10 Animals With Unique Eyes You Probably Don’t Know

A list of animals with unique eyes cannot be done without the presence of camels. The one cool feature about a camel’s eyes is that they have three eyelids. Since these bad boys live and travel a lot in deserts, the three eyelids help them a lot. Two of the eyelids have long lashes that protect their eyes as they walk through sandstorms. The third lid is very thin and functions as a windshield wiper to clean the eyes.

Unlike human eyes, camel eyes work from side to side rather than up and down. Another awesome thing is that the eyelids of the camels have a screen that traps sand and drops it down. Also, their eyelids are thin enough for the camels to see through even when closing so that they can still walk.

Chameleon is one interesting animal that walks the earth with many impressive features. Apart from being to change color or snatch insects with their tongues, chameleon also has interesting eyes. The eyes of a chameleon are very unusual because their eyelids cover almost their entire eyeballs except for a small hole. The small holes are to let the pupil see through.

On top of that, their eyes can move independently of each other in different directions. Also, each eye can move in a full 360 degrees to allow them to look at two different places at once. That makes it super easy for the chameleon to watch for both prey and predators at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone, eh? Chameleon is the perfect example of that.

This specie of squid is different from the giant squid, and this squid has the largest eyes of animals on Earth. By big, well the size is about a soccer ball with lenses the size of oranges. Another cool thing is that a colossal squid’s eyes both face forward which gives it extraordinary binocular-like vision.

That is not all, their eyes also have photophores that produce light for the squid to see its prey in the dark. Not just the prey, but to detect sperm whales which are their only predators as well. With such an organ that can produce light, the squid will have enough light to see 2000 meters below the surface.

With eyes so big that they cover almost the entire head, the eyes of the dragonfly are very complex and advanced. Because of that size, the eyes allow for a 360-degree field of vision which makes things easier for them to watch for prey. On top of that, dragonflies also have 30,000 ommatidia per eye that allow them to see ultraviolet and polarized light.

That is not all, these awesome insects also have three smaller eyes that are capable of detecting movement as well. As for the eyesight, it is extremely superb which brings dragonflies the ease of discovering potential prey or enemy quickly. No doubt why some dragonfly species can hunt at dusk since they can see perfectly in low light conditions.

Don’t let the name confuse you, four-eyed fish has only two eyes but with a twist. Their eyes are divided by a band of tissue and each half of the eye has a pupil of its own. Such adaptation allows this weird but interesting fish to see perfectly both above and below the waterline at the same time. So the upper half of the eyeball of the four-eyed fish adapts to vision in the air while the lower half adapts to underwater vision.

How cool is that, right? When the fish completely submerge under the water, the upper halves of the eyes will be out of focus. However, this type of fish spends almost its entire life on the surface. It only has to dive completely once in a while to prevent the upper halves of the eyes from dehydrating.

This is a confusing-looking fish that has the face of a ray and a body of a shark. That is yet not the weirdest thing about this creature, we focus more on its eyes. Giant guitarfish don’t have eyelids, instead, they have strong muscles that can pull their eyes back into their head. So this type of fish can retract its eyeballs nearly 1.6 inches into its head. This ability is helpful when it comes to protecting their eyes because giant guitarfish don’t have eyelids. Being able to retract their eyes protects them from damages incurred by drifting sand, coral fragments, and other attacks.

Creepy yet amazing, the eyes of leaf-tailed geckos have vertical pupils that contain a series of pinholes. Those pinholes widen at night which allows for amazing night vision for the geckos themselves. The most fascinating thing about their eyes is that these geckos can see 350 times better than humans. Well, many of us wear glasses to help us see; we can’t compare with them geckos.

If you look closely, you will see the patterns on the whites of their eyes that play a part in camouflaging. Oh yes, the leaf-tailed geckos camouflage very well. Not to mention that they don’t have eyelids which makes camouflaging even easier for them. Instead of eyelids, the geckos have invisible scales covering their eyes which they often clean using their long tongue.

Not different from dragonflies, mantis shrimp eyes are also compound except they have only 10,000 ommatidia per eye. Still, mantis shrimps have the most complex eyes of any animal known on Earth. In case you don’t know, they have 12 color receptors while we humans only have three. Plus, mantis shrimp eyes also have ultraviolet, infrared, and polarized light vision as well which is super cool.

That is not all, their eyes are divided into three sections which allow them to have a trinocular vision and complete depth perception. Moreover, their eyes are extremely mobile and seem to never stop moving which is totally different from most animals. Most animals keep eye movements to avoid blur, but mantis shrimp eyes go out of their way and move as much as possible.

As night dwellers, it is obvious that owls are gifted with unique eyes so that they can see at night. Owls have much larger corneas and pupils, and their retinas contain an abundance of light-sensitive rod cells which are sensitive to light. Those large corneas and pupils allow as much light as possible to enter the eyes. During the night, those large and amazing eyes provide the owls with superior vision.

Just like camels, owls also have three eyelids including a thinner layer that closes diagonally. The thing is that the eyes of an owl are so large they are eye tubes rather than eyeballs. Those eyes are fixed into their sockets, and that means owls cannot turn or roll their eyes at all. That is where another gift of being able to turn their head 270 degrees comes. No doubt why owls are super cool to watch and learn about.

It is not every day you see an insect with eyes that peculiar like this, and that’s how they got the name. This little insect has long projections from the sides of the head with the eyes and antennae at the end. Male flies usually have much longer stalks than females, and females prefer males with long eyestalks. The funny thing is males often stand face to face and measure their eyestalk’s length during mating season. The one with the greatest eye span is the winner.

The awesomeness does not end here, male stalk-eyed flies also have the extraordinary ability to enlarge their eyestalks. They do so by ingesting air through their mouth and pumping it through ducts in the head to the eyestalks. The males mostly do that during mating season to attract the females. Bizarre indeed, but that is one great thing to learn about doesn’t it?

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