Which animal has the best vision?

It seems unfair to single out particular animals for praise when it comes to eyesight, because every species has its own particular vision needs

A deer, for example, with its eyes on the sides of its head, has a very wide field of view (for spotting danger), but poor perception of distances, while a wolf’s forward-pointing eyes judge distances well, but view a narrower slice of the world. Can we really say one has better vision than the other?  

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Which animal has the best eyesight?

If we’re going to make it a competition, we need to be specific. Birds of prey have great eyes for detail – known as visual acuity. Wedge-tailed eagles came out top in a study of 94 bird species, picking out details a 30th of the size of those detectable by Anna’s hummingbirds from the same distance. 

• Animal vision: how do animals see?
• Can colour blindness in animals be beneficial? 

Few, if any, animals are more sensitive to colours than mantis shrimps, which boast 16 types of colour-sensitive cone cell in their retina (humans have three).

These crustaceans can also sense the polarisation of light (the plane in which it vibrates) and are unique in detecting circular polarised light (the direction in which it spins). Plus, their stalked eyes can swivel in three dimensions, so they don’t miss much.

Discover more fascinating facts about what animals see

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• Why do some animals have slit-shaped pupils, rather than round ones like humans?

Main image: Close up of Peacock Mantis Shrimp eyes. Getty Images