Predators that rely on ambush rather than chase employ a sudden decisive pounce or strike. Most have light eyes. Nature has provided many of them with anatomies that can be spring-loaded. Thus equipped,  they can just lie-in-wait for prey to come near or slowly approach prey. As soon as the gap between predator and prey is small enough, the predator suddenly releases the tension and all or part of its body hurls toward the prey.

 

Some animals, such as cats and civets, crouch to become spring-loaded. Some snakes strike from a coiled position. Going from coiled to straight suddenly closes the gap between the snake and its prey. Frogs have tongues that are attached at the front of the mouth, coiled, and sticky on the end.  The sudden uncoiling of the tongue projects it outward. Some lizards also have projectile tongues. Chameleons get that effect by means of V-shaped bones in their mouths that can be suddenly squeezed to project the tongue outward. (The effect is similar to what happens when you squeeze an orange pip between your thumb and finger.) Some herons have long necks with a special arrangement of bones that allow the neck to be folded into an S-shape. Lights out for the fish or frog that is present when that “S” suddenly becomes a straight line. Staying with the alphabet, darters (also called anhingas or snake birds) have special bones that allow the neck to be folded into a Z-shape. Whereas a heron suddenly straightens its neck to grab a fish, the darter, as its name implies, suddenly straightens its neck to spear a fish with its sharp bill.

 

These anatomical features are interesting in their own right, but what is really noteworthy is that all of these animals are very light-eyed.