this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2025
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No Stupid Questions

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^Full_disclosure^: my conception of dragon eyes is almost, if not entirely derived from Shrek

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[โ€“] berdandy@lemmy.ca 16 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Because dragons drawn with goat eyes would be weird.

[โ€“] angrystego@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

Now I need a weird goat-eyed dragon.

[โ€“] DemBoSain@midwest.social 8 points 3 weeks ago

Cats have vertical slits because their prey animals consist of rodents (ground) and birds (air). The slit gives them a larger vertical field of view. Imagine viewing life like a TikTok influencer.

Some prey animals (goats) have horizontal slits so they can more easily watch for predators.

[โ€“] actionjbone@sh.itjust.works 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Because, as a rite of passage, all newborn cats must slay a dragon and take its eyes.

[โ€“] angrystego@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago

And when they successfully subdue the dragon, they exchange their eyes with them. So this is the perfect answer to both the questions of why cats have dragon eyes and why dragons have cat eyes.

[โ€“] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I think you mean why do dragons have cat eyes

[โ€“] lvxferre@mander.xyz 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Their pupils are vertical slits so they can let more or less light in, depending on the surrounding light. Note how they pupils dilate by a lot when in the dark, but if your cat is lazying under the Sun the slit gets really narrow.

[โ€“] remon@ani.social 6 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Their pupils are vertical slits so they can let more or less light in,

The same goes for round pupils so that doesn't explain why they are vertical. They are also mostly found in nocturnal predators, so regulating light intake isn't that biggest concern (in fact they often also have a tapetum lucidum to re-use the little light they can get).

From what I've read the vertical shape of the pupil is beneficial for judging distances (important for pouncing on things).

oh See Invisible doesn't work as well with round eyes, it's easier to collect the threads of reality on the sharper edges of cat eyes. You'll find similar eyes on most creatures that can see invisible things.

[โ€“] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 weeks ago

Just so I understand. Why does a real life animal have the eyes of a fictional creature, in this instance, one created in a CGI film made within the last 25 years?

[โ€“] remon@ani.social 3 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Can you explain what a dragon eyes are in the context of Shrek?

[โ€“] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 5 points 3 weeks ago

I believe the term is "come hither".

[โ€“] sopularity_fax@sopuli.xyz 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)