How does the lynx see?
The lynx (Lynx lynx) is a mammal in the order Carnivora. Its eyes belong to the vision type Night-hunting cat.
Measured in this species: sharpness and night vision. Measured colour or sharpness: a measured receptor set or acuity in this species; other dials come from relatives or group defaults. Every value below carries its evidence level and sources; nothing is typed by hand.
See your photo as the lynxThis 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 8 cycles per degree: the finest stripe pattern it can tell apart from grey.
- Its eyes cover about 250° around the head, with 112.5° seen by both eyes at once.
- It stops seeing flicker at 75 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset, so fast motion looks about 1.3 times slower to it.[14][15]
- 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: 450 nm (SWS (blue)), 555 nm (LWS (long)) receptor set of nearest measured relative Felis catus (same family Felidae) | Estimated | [1] |
| Sharpness | Acuity 8 cycles per degree median of 1 other rows (method priority rule) | Measured | [2] |
| Field of view | Binocular overlap 112.5° median of 1 relatives in family Felidae: Felis catus | Estimated | [3][4] |
| Total field of view 250° median species-v1 total field of order Carnivora: Canis familiaris | Group default | [5] | |
| Sharp zones (foveas) | Number of foveas 0 median of 2 relatives in family Felidae: Acinonyx jubatus, Felis catus | Estimated | [6] |
| Fovea type area centralis, horizontal streak | Estimated | [6] | |
| Night vision | Activity pattern cathemeral mode of 5 rows (of 6 rows): cathemeral; cathemeral (polyphasic); mesopic; mixed (nocturnal/crepuscular, cathemeral, crepuscular or diurnal/crepuscular); nocturnal | Measured (not re-verified) | [7][8][9][10][11][12] |
| Rods vs cones mixed nocturnal -> rod-dominated; crepuscular / cathemeral / mixed -> mixed; diurnal -> cone-dominated | Derived | [7][8][9][10][11][12] | |
| Motion (flicker fusion) | Flicker fusion frequency 75 Hz median of 1 relatives in family Felidae: Felis catus | Estimated | [13] |
Related animals
- Cat same vision type
- Ferret same vision type
- Cheetah same vision type
- Sea otter same vision type
- Ermine same vision type
- Oriental small-clawed otter 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
- 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:Miller & Murphy 1995
- 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
- Lafitte A, Sordello R, Legrand M, Nicolas V, Obein G, Reyjol Y. 2022. A flashing light may not be that flashy: A systematic review on critical fusion frequencies. PLoS ONE 17(12): e0279718. S10 File (CFF database). doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279718
- 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?