Sunday, November 11, 2007

The Eyes Have It

Lisa recently posted about goats, and Mr Man begged me to talk about their weird eyes.








Goats' eyes are creepy because they have a horizontal pupil. So do horses and cattle.
























Dogs and birds have a round pupil like ours.
Cats and reptiles have a vertical pupil.



















Day 11 of 'PoMo and this is what you get: a biology lesson.

11 comments:

Emily said...

Wow, I never realized that. Shows how vigilant I am.

Cool pics.

grandad says said...

That' 'splains it!

Leah said...

WOW.....(pondering)

Dana said...

I hear you--day 11. It should get easier; one would think, anyway.

Anonymous said...

I know the benefit of a vertical pupil (cats work a lot in the dark), but what benefit does a horizontal pupil offer? btw I never knew goats and cows and horses shared the same type; I thought goats were uniqua. Thank you, Dr Jenn.

Anonymous said...

Why is it that the goat pupil gives me the willies, but the horse/cattle pupil doesn't so much? Is it the cloven hoof thing?

Hrm. At any rate, I enjoy a good biology lesson every now and then.

Unknown said...

thanks for that -- from another happy pupil pupil. I heard a story a couple years ago about genetic engineering that has created goats whose milk contains spiders webbing so they can make strands of it for use in ballistic proof vests and other futuristic gear. Care to comment on such science in another nablomoposhlomo however you call it month?

Vetmommy said...

The horizontal pupil is better for seeing around yourself, as in for predators. Most prey animals, (deer, elk, horses, cattle) can see nearly 360 degrees without turning their heads.

I agree w/Lula, though, goats are the weirdest.

Dana S. Whitney said...

Thanks for all the photos.
Do all prey have horizontal pupils? i.e. rabbits? squirrels? What about pigs? elephants?
I wonder why I didn't notice it with cows and horses. It seems more obvious in sheep.
Must check out camels/llammas/alpacas...
What is the species/group name for sheep.. i.e., the equivalent of "bovine"?

Anonymous said...

"Ovine" is the word you are looking for as the species name for Sheep. The species name is Ovis Aries.

Anonymous said...

The octopus has goat pupils