Human eyes are special in their every aspect from design to function. For us and our needs, they’re more or less already perfect! But you just can’t stop wondering about how other animals see. You’ve heard that there’s a difference, but you just can’t grasp how that could possibly be. Well, to tell you right now, the difference is as huge as the horizon is far. Just imagine…

Wearing designed contact lenses is the closest you’re going to get to having animal eyes. The uniqueness to their design is an oddity to us, making it impossible for us to see how they work—get it? But that doesn’t mean we can’t try.

Goldfish

Tetrachromacy is the name of the game—remember it. But what is it? Simply, it means your fair-scaled best friend has four types of cone cells in its eyes, which make it able to see a wider spectrum of colors. What may look like same shades to you are actually hints different to the goldfish. If you think your favorite swimmer’s the most behaved in the pet kingdom, well that’s because you haven’t seen the shark hidden behind its eyes.

Bee

Since the bee greatly sees ultraviolet, its color range is tilted far towards the other side of the spectrum. You’ll be sad at what it’s missing: the color red. Imagine the bee not knowing that a red rose exists—and it’s a bee, its life revolves around flowers! But the bee’s actually not a loser in the area of vision. See, this little fellow sees hidden patterns in colors. While you see petals in full yellow, the bee sees it in two different colors. It’s especially lucky with that oddity, as with UV-sensitive eyes, bees can see nectar on petals.

Cat

You’re already sold by the very mention of cat eyes: “Yes, they’re special; go on.” But aside from the color and shape, cat eyes are a lot more special than their mere design. Just like the bee, the cat is UV-sensitive and therefore can see a whole new world that scientists describe as psychedelic. Good for them; human eyes can’t withstand exposure to UV. Another hint on what that means: not being able to see urine traces on surfaces, while the cat can. Another vision superpower you’re supposed to know that the cat has: they see in the dark.

Shark

Just like the cat, the shark can see in the dark. This is due to the intricacy of its retina, as it’s divided into two areas: one to adapt to daylight and another to lowlight. But this is a great prey, so there must be more. Also like the cat, the shark has mirrored crystals behind its retina, also known as the tapetum lucidum that adds more punch to its ability to see in the murky deep sea—for up to 10 times more than humans. If that doesn’t frighten preys yet, then they must shiver to the shark’s glowing eyes, also thanks to the tapetum lucidum.

Eagle

Another predator with machine eyes is the eagle. This vicious beast has big eyes that are able to see images larger than we can. With this, the eagle can see as far as a mile away, and the image is going to be 8 times sharper than what our sharpest eye can see. Now that’s a predator—but there’s more. With the eagle’s eyes facing the front, their binocular vision is able to determine its distance from its target. Good thing humans aren’t in the eagle’s target list.

Now that you know about animal vision, wish you know how it feels, don’t you? Which animal’s eyes would you like to have or try for a day? Let us know in the comments section below!