Maybe it evolved from a predatory ancestor and didn’t get selected for different position of the eyes?
Comment on Big Bird
joao@aussie.zone 2 months ago
Big bird has forward facing eyes, which is usually the mark of a predator.
flora_explora@beehaw.org 2 months ago
PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee 2 months ago
We know from Big Bird’s extended family that his species has a wide spread of individual variation, and given that none of them reside in the wild none of them are likely to suffer predation due to what would otherwise be a mal-adaptation, providing a springboard for even more genetic variation from generation to generation.
Just look at how wildly different looking specific humans can be from one another, even within a single community.
PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world 2 months ago
And dragons have wide-set eyes in pretty much every depiction. So that brings up the question: What was hunting all the dragons?
hsdkfr734r@feddit.nl 2 months ago
Elefants have them too! Image
I’m sure there is an exception for creatures made from fabric and foam, somewhere.
odium@programming.dev 2 months ago
Makes sense. Evolution gives prey animals eyes with as wide a field of vision as possible, so they can detect predators better. Elephants are too large for predators to mess with and so is big bird.
manucode@infosec.pub 2 months ago
The elephant in the picture though is smaller than a mouse
ThrowawaySobriquet@lemmy.world 2 months ago
The reference mouse is oversized
blindsight@beehaw.org 2 months ago
Can confirm. I measured on my screen, estimating the trunk length extended, and it’s about 6 cm trunk to tail (or 2⅜" in the US).
FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Image
I had to go look it up. Not sure that picture is accurate, mind, it’s the only one I could find. (Though lots of comments about herds being led by a blind elephant…. I’m sure there’s a joke in there.)