One way to determine what an animal eats is by looking at its skull. The structure or shape of a mammal's jaw and teeth, as well as the placement of its eyes, are related to its diet. These characteristic function together to help a mammal catch food, as well as avoid becoming food for other animals. Looking at these visual clues can help you draw conclusions about a mammal's diet. The placement of a mammal's eyes can often indicate if it is a predator or a prey animal.
Predators have eyes that face forward.
The field of vision for each eye overlaps in the front to create binocular vision. Binocular vision gives the predator better depth perception and helps them catch prey moving at high speeds. A prey animal has eyes that face sideways, with only a small area of overlap between the field of vision for each eye. This large field of vision lets the prey animal see almost all the way around its body, giving it lots of opportunity to spot a predator and run to safety. Teeth and Jaws A mammal's teeth are specially designed for its diet.