I feel like most other species’ eyes are shaped round like their eyes, but ours are more almond. It’s strange
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Could you give examples? I looked up 3 random animals (Elephant, tiger, and Dolphin) and they all had almond eyes. Admittedly they are all mammals so it may be a trait in mammals but it more likely varies a lot.
We have eyelids that can cover our eyes to protect them. Animals like fish that have round eyes, don’t have eyelids.
As for why having eyelids makes eyes not round, think about a window shade on a window (like a Venetian blind). Even if you raise it all the way, it’s still kinda bunched up at the top.
As has been mentioned, plenty of other animals with eyelids like ours have eyes that look almond-shaped to some degree.
But maybe you’re not just thinking of the shape of the visible part of the human eye, but also the prominent white sclera? Most animals don’t have much of the sclera exposed, if any, and further the sclera is often a dark color like the iris and pupil in many eyed animals. The common thought is that having the sclera hidden and/or a similar color to surrounding tissue helps with staying hidden, so other animals don’t notice the big patch of contrasting color. In contrast, the conventional wisdom is that humans have big patches of exposed sclera so it’s easier to tell where someone else is looking, promoting silent communication and so on.
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