The Secret of Pupil Shape 瞳孔橫豎的秘密

They say that the eyes are the window to the soul. That is， simply looking into a person’s eyes can reveal details about what they are thinking and how they are feeling. In fact， in the animal kingdom， the eyes， and particularly the shape of the pupils， can actually tell us far more information about the animal. For example， some animals， such as cats and foxes， often have narrow， vertical pupils， while others， such as deer and sheep， have far wider and more horizontal ones. Such differences are， without doubt， no coincidence.

有人說，眼睛是心靈之窗。也就是說，只要觀察一個人的眼睛，就能看出他在想什么及其感受。事實上，在動物界，眼睛──尤其是瞳孔的形狀──的確可以告訴我們關于動物的更多信息。例如，有些動物（如貓和狐貍）的瞳孔通常是狹窄而垂直的，而另一些動物（如鹿和羊）的瞳孔則更寬且更水平。毫無疑問，這些差異絕非巧合。

In the wild， a fox’s pupils become narrow when the fox is seeking prey. With such pupils， a fox can see vertical objects clearly， even from a distance， whereas horizontal objects go out of focus as they become farther away. This difference between focused and blurry objects helps a fox judge distance， which is vital when it hunts.

在野外，當狐貍尋找獵物時，瞳孔會變窄。有了這樣的瞳孔，即使在遠處，狐貍也能清楚地看到垂直的物體，而水平的物體則會隨著距離拉遠而變得失焦。這種聚焦物體和模糊物體之間的差異有助于狐貍判斷距離，這在捕獵時至關重要。

By contrast， the more horizontal， almost rectangular pupils of animals like deer， which are often sought as prey， are not believed to help with depth perception in the same way. However， the pupils are believed to provide strong peripheral vision， which refers to the ability to see objects within one’s whole field of vision， not only those directly in front. Such an advantage can help with escaping from larger hunters， who thus may be seen approaching from any direction.

相比之下，鹿等動物的瞳孔更為水平，且幾乎呈長方形。這些動物通常被當作獵物，人們認為它們的瞳孔不是以同樣的方式提高它們的深度知覺。然而，其瞳孔被認為能提供很強的周邊視覺，這是指能夠看到整個視野內的物體，而不僅僅是正前方的物體。這種優勢有助于其逃離大型捕食者的獵捕，因此從任何方向過來的捕食者都可能會被看見。

Of course， there are exceptions to these trends， and the likelihood is that the pupil shape is dictated by multiple factors. Nevertheless， much like those of humans， animals’ pupils can reveal much about their intentions at any given moment. Truly， the eyes disclose what the tongue never could.

當然，這些傾向也有例外，瞳孔的形狀很可能是由多種因素決定的。不過與人類的瞳孔一樣，動物的瞳孔在任何時候都能透露出許多意圖。眼睛確實能透露出舌頭無法傳達的信息。

Word Bank

reveal /r?'vi?l/ v. 揭示；顯示；透露

Details of the murder were revealed by the local paper.

coincidence /k??'?ns?d?ns/ n.（令人吃驚的）巧合，巧事

vital /'va?tl/ adj. 必不可少的；對……極重要的

Reading is of vital importance in language learning.

dictate /d?k'te?t/ v. 支配；擺布；決定