Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Wiggling your ears might be more of a pub party piece than a survival skill, but humans still try to prick up their ears
...Ear movement is crucial in many animals, not least in helping them focus their attention on particular noises and work out which direction they are coming from...
"It is believed that our ancestors lost their ability to move their ears about 25m years ago. Why, exactly, is difficult to say," said Andreas Schroer, the lead author of the research from Saarland University in Germany.
"However, we have been able to demonstrate that the neural circuits still seem to be present in some state, [that is] our brain retained some of the structures to move the ears, even though they apparently are not useful any more."...
"Almost nobody [in the study] had the ability to voluntarily move their ears, so our results are not related to a person's ability to do this," said Schroer, although he noted other research has shown people can learn to move their ears.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jan/31/neural-fossil-human-ears-move-when-listening-scientists-say
The dog pix is from Lake City (FL) Animal Hospital site
https://lakecityanimalhospital.com/blog/dog-ear-body-language/
"It is believed that our ancestors lost their ability to move their ears about 25m years ago. Why, exactly, is difficult to say," said Andreas Schroer, the lead author of the research from Saarland University in Germany.
"However, we have been able to demonstrate that the neural circuits still seem to be present in some state, [that is] our brain retained some of the structures to move the ears, even though they apparently are not useful any more."...
"Almost nobody [in the study] had the ability to voluntarily move their ears, so our results are not related to a person's ability to do this," said Schroer, although he noted other research has shown people can learn to move their ears.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jan/31/neural-fossil-human-ears-move-when-listening-scientists-say
The dog pix is from Lake City (FL) Animal Hospital site
https://lakecityanimalhospital.com/blog/dog-ear-body-language/
I can wiggle my ears, as could one of my uncles.
Outside of the political realm, Atavism can be Good!