Do animals perceive time differently to humans?

Yes, animals do perceive time differently than humans, but it depends on the species, their brain structure, and evolutionary needs.

1️⃣ The role of brain processing speed

• Animals with faster brain processing tend to experience time more slowly (in a way).
• This is linked to something called "temporal resolution" — how many frames per second (so to speak) their brain processes.
• For example:
• A fly might see the world at ~250 frames per second.
• A human perceives reality at ~60 frames per second.

To a fly, a human trying to swat it may appear to move in slow motion.

2️⃣ Heartbeat and metabolism affect time perception

• Animals with faster heart rates (like mice or hummingbirds) live life on a much quicker "internal clock."
• Slow heartbeats (like elephants or whales) may correlate with a slower subjective passage of time.

3️⃣ Circadian rhythms and time of day

• Many animals (e.g. nocturnal animals, migratory birds) have highly tuned biological clocks that track day length, seasons, or even celestial navigation — their "sense of time" can feel completely different.
• Some animals rely on sunlight, temperature, or magnetic fields to track time rather than conscious "clock-watching" like humans.

4️⃣ Memory and mental time travel

• Humans can vividly remember the past and imagine the future ("mental time travel").
• Most animals likely live more in the present moment, though some (like apes, crows, dolphins, elephants) show limited future planning and memory.

5️⃣ Experiments that prove animals perceive time differently

• Studies using interval timing tasks (training animals to expect rewards after certain delays) show that different species estimate time gaps with varying accuracy.
• For example, pigeons may estimate seconds quite accurately, but struggle with longer intervals compared to primates.