Revealed: Why Animals’ Pupils Come In Different Shapes And Sizes

Plants and Animals





Photo credit:

Spot the fox, wolf, sheep and…cuttlefish. Jim Champion (sheep); R'lyeh (wolf); Michele Lamberti (fox); William Warby (cuttlefish), CC BY-SA

Wolves and foxes are closely related and share many of the same characteristics. But look at their eyes – where wolves have rounded pupils like humans, foxes instead have a thin vertical line. But it isn’t just canines –across the animal kingdom, pupils come in all shapes and sizes. So why the differences?