"When I started this study I asked, 'What do we know about eye color?' And the truth is, very little, as there are basically almost no phylogenetic evolutionary studies on eye color," said lead author Julius Tabin, highlighting the novelty of their research in understanding eye color diversity.
"Without fossil preservation to rely on, Tabin took a novel approach analyzing digital images from sources such as iNaturalist to identify and categorize the varied eye colors in 52 felid taxa," reflecting the innovative method used in the study.
"Most species have a singular eye color with no variation. So, it's really surprising that once you get outside of that scope, the variations are so vast, especially in wild felids," indicating the unexpected richness of iris colors in the wild.
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