How does the giraffe see?
The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is a mammal in the order Artiodactyla. Its eyes belong to the vision type Grazing ungulate panorama.
Measured in this species: sharpness, foveas and night vision. Measured core: measured values on at least 3 of the 6 dials. Every value below carries its evidence level and sources; nothing is typed by hand.
See your photo as the giraffeThis species is part of the full catalogue in the tool (full unlock). Your photo stays on your device.
What stands out
- It has two colour receptor classes (a dichromat): reds and greens fall on one axis, as in red-green colour blindness in people.
- Its sharpest vision resolves 25.46 cycles per degree: the finest stripe pattern it can tell apart from grey.
- Its eyes cover about 350° around the head, with 45° seen by both eyes at once.
- It stops seeing flicker at 60 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset, so fast motion looks about the same.[15][16]
- Activity pattern: cathemeral.
The six dials
Evidence levels: how the tiers work. "Measured" means a value measured in this species; "Estimated" values come from a close relative or an eye-size formula.
| Dial | Value | Evidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour | Colour receptors 2 receptor classes: 438 nm (VS/SWS (violet)), 554 nm (LWS (long)) receptor set of nearest measured relative Bos taurus (same order Artiodactyla) | Group default | [1][2] |
| Sharpness | Acuity 25.46 cycles per degree median of 1 anatomical-ganglion rows (method priority rule) | Measured | [3] |
| Field of view | Binocular overlap 45° median of 4 relatives in order Artiodactyla: Ovis aries, Bos taurus, Capra hircus, Sus scrofa | Group default | [4][5] |
| Total field of view 350° group default: median total field of vision type V04 within phylum Chordata in species-v1: Equus caballus | Group default | [6] | |
| Sharp zones (foveas) | Number of foveas 0 fovea_present / area_centralis_type (retinal topography; count 1 = fovea present, 0 = none) | Measured | [7] |
| Fovea type anakatabatic area, area centralis, horizontal streak | Measured | [7] | |
| Night vision | Activity pattern cathemeral mode of 6 rows (of 7 rows): cathemeral; cathemeral (polyphasic); diurnal; diurnal/crepuscular; mesopic; mixed (nocturnal/crepuscular, cathemeral, crepuscular or diurnal/crepuscular); nocturnal/crepuscular | Measured (not re-verified) | [8][9][10][11][12][13] |
| Rods vs cones mixed nocturnal -> rod-dominated; crepuscular / cathemeral / mixed -> mixed; diurnal -> cone-dominated | Derived | [8][9][10][11][12][13] | |
| Motion (flicker fusion) | Flicker fusion frequency 60 Hz median of 2 relatives in order Artiodactyla: Ovis aries, Sus scrofa | Group default | [14] |
Related animals
- Cow same vision type
- Pig same vision type
- Sheep same vision type
- Goat same vision type
- Arabian camel same vision type
- Alpaca same vision type
More mammals: all mammals with measured vision data.
Sources
- Longcore T. 2023. A compendium of photopigment peak sensitivities and visual spectral response curves of terrestrial wildlife to guide design of outdoor nighttime lighting. Basic Appl Ecol 73:40-50. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2023.09.002. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8432720
- Müller B, Glösmann M, Peichl L, Knop GC, Hagemann C, Ammermüller J (2009) Bat eyes have ultraviolet-sensitive cone photoreceptors. PLoS ONE 4:e6390
- Veilleux CC, Kirk EC 2014. Visual acuity in mammals. Brain Behav Evol 83:43, Supplementary Table 1 (cleaned CSV in Evo-M1-Trait-Data). doi.org/10.1159/000357830
- Heesy CP 2004. On the relationship between orbit orientation and binocular visual field overlap in mammals. Anat Rec 281A:1104, Table 1. doi.org/10.1002/ar.a.20116
- Heffner RS, Heffner HE 1992. Visual factors in sound localization in mammals. J Comp Neurol 317:219, Table 1 (via Evo-M1 sensory merge). doi.org/10.1002/cne.903170302
- species_v1:Timney & Keil 1992
- Kopania EEK, Clark NL. 2025. Mammalian retinal specializations for high acuity vision evolve in response to both foraging strategies and morphological constraints. Evolution Letters 9: qrae072. Supplementary Tables S1-S2.. doi.org/10.1093/evlett/qrae072
- Banks MS, Sprague WW, Schmoll J, Parnell JAQ, Love GD. 2015. Science Advances 1:e1500391. doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500391
- Wilman et al. 2014 EltonTraits 1.0, MamFuncDat.txt. doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
- Maor R, Dayan T, Ferguson-Gow H, Jones KE. 2017. Temporal niche expansion in mammals from a nocturnal ancestor after dinosaur extinction. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1:1889-1895. Supplementary Table 1. doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0366-5
- Jones KE et al. 2009. PanTHERIA: a species-level database of life history, ecology, and geography of extant and recently extinct mammals. Ecology 90:2648. Ecological Archives E090-184. doi.org/10.1890/08-1494.1
- Schmitz L, Motani R. 2011. Science 332:705-708, SOM. doi.org/10.1126/science.1200043
- Moura et al. 2024. A phylogeny-informed characterisation of global tetrapod traits addresses data gaps and biases. PLoS Biol 22:e3002658. TetrapodTraits v3.0.1.. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22536349
- Haarlem CS, Hynes C, Jackson AL, Mitchell KJ, O'Connell RG, Healy K. 2026. Pace of ecology drives the tempo of visual perception across the animal kingdom. Nature Ecology & Evolution (doi:10.1038/s41559-026-02994-7). Figshare dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.30556475. doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30556475
- Healy K, McNally L, Ruxton GD, Cooper N, Jackson AL. 2013. Metabolic rate and body size are linked with perception of temporal information. Animal Behaviour 86:685-696. Table 1. doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.06.018
- Inger R, Bennie J, Davies TW, Gaston KJ. 2014. Potential biological and ecological effects of flickering artificial light. PLoS ONE 9(5): e98631. Table 3. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098631
Every value cites its sources (all sources). Data: catalogue-v1, built 2026-09-29. Accuracy notes: how accurate is this?