Why Do Cats Have Vertical Pupils: Explanatory TED Ed Lesson (Video)

You may have noticed that your pet cats have beautiful eyes, gorgeous in fact. One thing that makes cat eyes unique is the vertical shape of cat pupils. It's an interesting difference from dogs or other house pets, and tells us humans a lot about the role of cats in their respective ecosystems! This educational video takes a deep dive into all things animal pupils: What? Why? How? Keep asking questions. Knowledge is power, especially feline knowledge. TED Ed invites you to: "Dive into the incredible diversity of animal pupils, and how the different shapes indicate the animal's role in an ecosystem. Peering into the eyes of different animals, you'll see some extraordinarily shaped pupils. House cats, for one, are twilight hunters with vertically elongated pupils. Many grazing animals, like goats, have rectangular pupils. Other animals have crescent- or heart-shaped pupils. So, what's going on? Why are there so many different pupil shapes? Emma Bryce digs into the science of animal vision" Guess we'll just have to watch the video to learn more now that we are invested in the matter!