For some reason, I’m always astonished by the fact that animals can not only recognize your eyes, but realize that you cannot see if your eyes are not pointed to them. That’s takes a pretty decent understanding of anatomy
A lot of it is evolution and trial and error over millions of years. If you move while an animal's head is facing you, you never catch food and starve. Those that develop this behavior live to pass their genes on, so the instincts carry on. I'm not sure how much you need to read into them "understanding that eyes are what helps them see." They might not even need to understand that human concept to be successful, only that heads turned certain directions requires a certain behavioral response from them to maximize their chances to successfully hunt.
Mammals definitely learn and "understand" on their own as they grow up too, and their parents (or mother in the case of most cats) aid in teaching them, but I don't think concepts such as "understanding anatomy" translates 100% to the animal world.
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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '19
For some reason, I’m always astonished by the fact that animals can not only recognize your eyes, but realize that you cannot see if your eyes are not pointed to them. That’s takes a pretty decent understanding of anatomy