this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2025

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confused flatfish noises (mander.xyz)

submitted 10 months ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[–] saltesc@lemmy.world 213 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (32 children)

I think that's specific to mammals. Just off the top of my head...

Invertebrates? No. All out

Fish? No. Also a Hammerhead would've really sold this comic lol.

Birds? No. Though, even on the side they do often have a tilt toward frontal in a lot of predatory birds. It could be argued...

Reptiles? No.

Amphibians? No. There's no even trying to place rules on that optical chaos.

Mammals? Yeah, pretty much. Can't think of an outlier but I'm sure there's plenty of obvious ones.

Edit' Ah, there we go. Of course marine mammals are an exception. But back in land, as too are llamas. Makes you wonder...what are the llamas plotting?

[–] sbeak@sopuli.xyz 58 points 10 months ago (1 children)

whales and dolphins are mammals, and they have eyes on the side. Don't think anything preys on them (at least for the full-grown ones, pretty sure baby whales are preyed on)

[–] roguetrick@lemmy.world 41 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Sperm whales are apex(orcas will target calves but they stay the hell away from bulls) but they don't hunt their monstrous cephalopod prey(which in any sane ecosystem would be apex themselves) with eyes.

[–] sbeak@sopuli.xyz 37 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (8 children)

A non-predator mammal with front facing eyes: llamas.

[–] FeatherConstrictor@sh.itjust.works 17 points 10 months ago (6 children)

Are llamas' eyes not side-facing? That's what it looks like in photos to me

[–] quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 27 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

They need them for spitting.

[–] WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (4 children)

Llamas are dangerous, so if you see one where people are swimming, you shout: Look out, there are llamas!

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[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago (15 children)

Pandas as well. Non-predator but clearly front facing eyes.

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[–] Bluewing@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

They want your sweater back.....

[–] illi@piefed.social 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I remember there used to be a goat on some island (now extinct) that didn't have any predators so it evolved forward facing eyes

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[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Exception: Sloth

[–] Auli@lemmy.ca 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Sloths are weird all the extinct sloths had side eyes. The ones today dont. I'm guessing depth perception for climbing. Because the list goes really big when arboreal prey animals are involved. Lemurs, sugar gliders monkeys great apes.

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[–] marzhall@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (5 children)

Invertebrates? No. All out

I invite you to meet the awesome jumping spider, whose eyes are very especially needed set up to be forward-facing for depth perception for their jumps, and who hunt other spiders, as well as the wolf spider, who are also a hunting (as opposed to web) spider.

In fact, you can use the chart of spider eye layouts to pretty much identify whether you're looking at a spider who builds webs and waits or a spider who hunts:

a drawing of different spider faces to their names

Anyone with two big forward-facing eyes is probably looking around for their next meal; the rest are building a web, trapdoor, or taking some other approach.

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[–] prex@aussie.zone 176 points 10 months ago (3 children)

[–] Senseless@feddit.org 65 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The same facial expression I make one week into the month when looking at my cheque account.

[–] smiletolerantly@awful.systems 39 points 10 months ago

I think we can therefore safely conclude that the shark is also looking at your cheque account.

[–] fossilesque@mander.xyz 19 points 10 months ago

Pls respond.

[–] mika_mika@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

hello, yes, this is shark!

[–] mech@feddit.org 126 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Yes Sharky?

CAN I PLEASE MOVE? I'M SUFFOCATING!

[–] notsure@fedia.io 52 points 10 months ago (1 children)

...300 million years, can't sit still, smh...

[–] stupidcasey@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Unfortunately I promised the wife Flake tonight.

[–] mech@feddit.org 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Protipp: To make this dish more interesting, simply bury the meat in your back yard for a year.

Hákarl

[–] ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 10 points 10 months ago

TIL Greenland sharks can live up to 500 years, take 150 years to reach sexual maturity and have a gestation period of up to 18 years. And apparently it takes a year in the back yard to prepare as well.

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[–] mr_account@lemmy.world 48 points 10 months ago (8 children)

Last time I saw this kind of comment/meme someone pointed out that dragons are usually depicted with eyes on the sides of their head. What hunts them, I wonder

[–] Mr_Fish@lemmy.world 33 points 10 months ago (1 children)

That's like how in dnd lore the tarrasque, basically the biggest, scariest monster, is always depicted with big spikes on its back. Animals evolve spikes like that to ward off predators. That means something at least used to hunt tarrasques

[–] TheOctonaut@mander.xyz 31 points 10 months ago

Actually they develop in its juvenile state when they are vulnerable to more mundane predators but are then retained for sexual selection in adulthood.

There is only one tarrasque in existence, resulting in it taking its sexual frustration out on level 20 adventuring parties and parties that keep making fun of the lore- uh, history- of the world they grew up in.

[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 26 points 10 months ago

Human.

[–] pressanykeynow@lemmy.world 18 points 10 months ago

Adventurers...

[–] redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 10 months ago

Bigger dragons.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 8 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Are we the baddies?

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[–] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 7 points 10 months ago

Horny donkeys

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[–] Zerush@lemmy.ml 30 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (7 children)

It's not the question if the eyes on the side or in the front, it's about the capability to be able to focusing on a stereoscopic vision to be able to calculate the distances to the prey or not. Side eyes increase the field of vision, which can be advantageous for fleeing animals, but does not exclude that predators can also use it to strategically locate themselves better in the environment. But it is true that animals with frontal vision are generally predatory.

Well....

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[–] fibojoly@sh.itjust.works 30 points 10 months ago

That's if sight is your primary sense for hunting / evasion, right?

[–] yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Is it actually possible for a fish-like animal to have eyes at the front (i.e. an animal with a hydrodynamic shape that spends all its time underwater)?

I feel like that's really difficult for evolution to achieve, especially because the mouth has to go somewhere at the front too. I mean, look at where the lights of a high-speed train are placed and their shape.

Intuitively it feels easier to just put the eyes on the side. Plus it feels like there's a lower risk of damaging them when bumping into something.

[–] drath@lemmy.world 20 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Is it actually possible for a fish-like animal to have eyes at the front

[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 8 points 10 months ago

was gonna snark "me before coffee" but tbh this is also me after coffee too

[–] Hathaway@lemmy.zip 7 points 10 months ago

Barreleyes get sorta close. They look up but can look forward too.

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[–] Saapas@piefed.zip 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Is this the guy who got his bike stolen

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[–] zeca@lemmy.ml 7 points 10 months ago

Being a predator is not a property, its a relation. X is a predator of Y... but not of Z, and is a prey of V and not of W.

[–] Gladaed@feddit.org 7 points 10 months ago

Sharks see with their jaws, though.

[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Axe-u-a-lee...

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