A hilarious optical illusion of a dog that appears to have human legs has left the internet in stitches this week.
The picture—shared on Facebook's popular Dogspotting group by Joey Michael on May 20—features a dog sitting in a vehicle while the reflection on the side of its door shows a man's legs—lined up to look like they belong to the pup.
In the post, Michael wrote: "My dad sent me this, not sure he realized the dog grew human legs."
With thousands of reactions on Facebook, the post even made its way over to Reddit's r/Rarepuppers page where it has received over 23,000 upvotes.
The National Eye Institute says that an optical illusion is something that plays tricks on your vision. We live in a three-dimensional world, so our brains get clues about depth, shading, lighting and position that help us to interpret what we see. When looking at a two-dimensional image, the brain can easily be fooled because it doesn't get the same clues.
In stitches at the photo, Facebook users shared their thoughts.
One wrote: "That's fantastic! Now you know what the dog would look like half-human," while another said: "I saved this picture to show my whole family."
"Perfect shot," said another commenter. "I wonder if your dad ever noticed."
A user joked: "What are you all so surprised about? How else would he be able to drive a Jeep? Those pedals ain't gonna push themselves…"
"The next step in human evolution," said another comment.
"He looks good in shorts," said a viewer of the unusual image on Reddit. While another Redditor said: "The reflection is perfection."
Another dog gained viral attention after it was snapped inside a cop car wearing a blue shirt. The Samoyed from New Zealand was dubbed "constable floof" online by delighted viewers.
One Facebook commenter said that Michael had "won the internet today," with the hilarious illusion. Another user wrote: "This is epic! Frame this goodness!"
A comment on Reddit said: "He's a Mog. Half man, half dog. He's his own best friend."
Another pooch caused laughter earlier this month with a dog whose reflection perfectly resembled the outline of Scooby Doo delighting the internet. Elsewhere, a feline lying on a couch was dubbed "floating cat" in a picture featuring an optical illusion that one Reddit user said "legitimately hurts my brain."
Newsweek has reached out to Joey Michael for comment.
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Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Alice Gibbs is a Newsweek Senior Internet Trends & Culture Reporter based in the U.K. For the last two years ... Read more
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