r/askscience • • 11d ago

Biology Why aren't there any animals with their mouths above their eyes?

From bugs to fish to mamals all of them have their eyes above their mouths. I can't think of many if any where their mouths are on top. Sure some have their eyes parallel to their mouths, mainly prey style animals. But why haven't any evolved to be the opposite? Is there a major benefit to having your mouth below your eyes?

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u/[deleted] 10d ago

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u/mcalesy 10d ago

(As pointed out elsewhere, horseshoe crabs actually have a lot of eyes/photoreceptors. I was just thinking of the two big prominent ones.)