Do you know why goats and sheep have rectangular pupils?

If you look into the crystal clear, honest eyes of a sheep or a goat, you will notice that the pupils have rectangle shape.

This may confuse you. Why flirt with geometry when the most perfect figure is a circle? However, the reason why goats, sheep and other ungulates have rectangular pupils is actually related to their lifestyle.

Before moving on to goats and sheep, let's generally understand what a pupil is. This is the hole in the iris of the eye through which light passes before reaching the retina. It Maybe have a different shape: round, vertical, horizontal or rectangular. It also changes size to control the amount of light that is captured by the eye.

As you can see, goats and sheep are herbivores. No, of course, they finger on occasion bite off they can easily, but usually they don’t eat meat. These ungulates prefer stunted vegetation that is on the ground.

Rectangular pupils help expand the field of view and better navigate in space in search of food.

The round pupil, like that of primates, has the smallest surface and allows the animal to see most clearly and precisely what is in front of it. However, it limits vision to the sides. Because of him, animals whose lifestyle is associated with the search for food on earth, failed to really consider the space around.

Therefore, nature endowed goats and sheep with rectangular pupils. Thanks to them, ungulates see well in the horizontal plane - not only find food, but also detect potential danger from the sides. They able respond quickly to any threats and run away in time if a wolf suddenly comes to the pasture.

In addition, rectangular pupils allow you to more effectively capture light coming from different directions. Also an important feature for those who live in open areas.

However, even animals that have a similar lifestyle can have pupils of different forms. For example, at horses they are round. The fact is that these animals are more active and can run fast. Therefore, they need to see well in different directions, and not just in the horizontal plane.

And yes, rectangular pupils can boast of not only livestock - for example, deer, elk, hippos, they are the same. And also toads and octopuses, even though they are predators.