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Published October 21, 2008 | public
Journal Article

"X-ray vision" and the evolution of forward-facing eyes

Abstract

Why do our eyes face forward, and why do many mammals have eyes facing sideways? Here, we describe results suggesting that the degree of binocular convergence is selected to maximize how much the mammal can see in its environment. Mammals in non-cluttered environments can see the most around them with panoramic, laterally directed eyes. Mammals in cluttered environments, however, can see best when their eyes face forward, for binocularity has the power of "seeing through" clutter out in the world. Evidence across mammals closely fits the predictions of this "X-ray" hypothesis.

Additional Information

© 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Received 13 March 2008; accepted 8 July 2008. Available online 15 July 2008. Support for this research was given by 5F32EY015370-02, NIH (to M.A.C.), and JST.ERATO, Japan (to S.S.).

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
March 5, 2024