If you’ve ever sworn your pet was fixated on protecting you from an imaginary enemy in your house, perhaps you were right… They might just be seeing something that your eye cannot see.
A recent study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B found that cats, dogs and a few other mammals have the ability to see ultraviolet (UV) light. UV light is invisible to the human eye and it was thought that other mammals could not see ultraviolet wavelengths because their eye lenses were so similar to humans. However, like those in the animal kingdom able to see these wavelengths (like birds, fish and some reptiles), cats and dogs posses UV-transparent lenses. As humans, we’re able to see from red to violet on the color spectrum but for animals with UV-transparent lenses, the ultraviolet light reaches the retina, where it is converted into nerve signals that head to the brain and are then processed into the visual system.
This ability might better explain why your dog can spot a squirrel from a mile away in the dark, but it also might help researchers determine why some animals can see UV light while others can’t. This research might then shed some light on how this can help us learn how to treat and protect our own eyes from UV light.
Photo credit: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/petshealth/8982736/Pet-subjects-Skype-your-dog.html
Source: https://www.care2.com/causes/new-study-reveals-cats-and-dogs-have-superpower-vision.html