Comment on *confused flatfish noises*
flora_explora@beehaw.org 10 hours agoThey also have to orient themselves in a truely 3D landscape, unlike terrestrial predators who hunt on basically a 2D plane. Birds of prey (with the exception of owls) also don’t have front-facing eyes, probably for similar reasons (and they’re stereoscopic vision also works a bit different I think with very different points of focus).
Zerush@lemmy.ml 10 hours ago
Wrong, all birds of prey have front-facing eyes, not only owls
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flora_explora@beehaw.org 9 hours ago
Haha, I’m not a bird person and didn’t bother to look it up. Thanks for the correction!
Zerush@lemmy.ml 8 hours ago
Well, better as front-faces, the capability to focus on a point in front, since a 3D vision is essential for a predator, to be able to accurately calculate distances. Insects and arthropods often combine side and frontal vision, if they are predators, obtaining a vision in practically 360º, for example dragonflies and also jumping spiders or hunters, these usually have two large eyes in front and 6 smaller side eyes. Chameleons solve this with eyes that can move independently, only focusing on the front before the attack. In small animals a wide field of vision is necessary, even if they are predators, since they themselves appear on the menu of others
flora_explora@beehaw.org 1 hour ago
Hm, in small animals my previous point of a 2D vs 3D space is also valid. Large land prey animals “only” have to look from side to side to spot predators. Small animals have to look in all 3 dimensions, like sharks