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On average, do smaller animals have senses inferior to those of bigger animals? I ask because it seems like a somewhat logical assumption: smaller eyes would in theory collect less light, and smaller ears would in theory collect less sound.

Or is size just irrelevant?

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    $\begingroup$ this is a broad question that probably depends greatly on the types of senses that you're referring to. what research have you done trying to fine an answer to this question? $\endgroup$ – Vance L Albaugh Feb 12 '17 at 19:36
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Size is not likely to have anything to do with sensory acuity. A simple example can be seen in the fact that rodents have much more sensitive sense of smell than humans, and some birds have much sharper visual senses than humans. It has much more to do with the number of olfactory/light sensors, sensory pathways to the brain and how that information is processed by the brain (i.e how much priority is assigned). Sensory organ size per se is less relevant (think of elephant ears).

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    $\begingroup$ can you add some references or links to back up your answer? posts without any evidence of reference material don't get very far on BiologySE - even if this maybe common knowledge to you, you still need to try and provide some references that others might be able to read more to better understand the answer $\endgroup$ – Vance L Albaugh Feb 12 '17 at 19:34
  • $\begingroup$ Guess thats true. Unfortunately my answer comes from years of working in scientific research animal facility, with small animals. References for something more on the 'common knowledge' spectrum would be very labor intensive and difficult to find. I will remove my answer shortly as i cannot provide a citation. Just want to give the poster a chance to view this answer and maybe help them get where they need to get. $\endgroup$ – JustGettinStarted Feb 13 '17 at 0:59

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