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Why so many domesticated mammals have floppy ears

by whateverpedia
8 replies
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An interesting read for animal lovers:
Take a look at several domesticated mammal species and you might spot a number of similarities between them, including those cute floppy ears.The famous naturalist and evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin even observed in the first chapter of his On the Origin of Species that:
Not a single domestic animal can be named which has not in some country drooping ears [...]
And it's not just the ears. Domesticated animals share a fairly consistent set of differences from their wild ancestors such as smaller brains, smaller teeth, shorter curly tails and lighter and blotchy coats: a phenomenon called the "domestication syndrome".

Why so many domesticated mammals have floppy ears


I'm not sure if these findings also apply to Martian fluffy bunnies though.
  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    The sun is about to come up here - so it's late and I'm tired...........but..........

    I can only think of two species with floppy ears - dogs and bunnies.

    Short or curly tails seem maybe a little more prevalent. But what the heck domestic mammals have floppy ears besides dogs and bunnies? I've never once in my life seen a floppy eared cat, hamster, guinea pig, bird, ferret, horse, donkey.........well, you get the idea.

    Smaller brain describes my exes - but not my dogs.
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    • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
      Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

      The sun is about to come up here - so it's late and I'm tired...........but..........

      I can only think of two species with floppy ears - dogs and bunnies.

      Short or curly tails seem maybe a little more prevalent. But what the heck domestic mammals have floppy ears besides dogs and bunnies? I've never once in my life seen a floppy eared cat, hamster, guinea pig, bird, ferret, horse, donkey.........well, you get the idea.

      Smaller brain describes my exes - but not my dogs.
      It's not saying only animals with floppy ears are domesticated, it's saying floppy ears are a 'symptom' of domestication, not in every animal but in some of them hence Darwin saying...

      Not a single domestic animal can be named which has not in some country drooping ears
      So an Alsation may normally have pointed ears but some of them, as a result of domestication, will have floppy ears.





      Or a rabbit...





      Cat...



      Guinea pig...



      Donkey...



      Birds ears don't tend to stick anywhere do they? Apart from this seriously domesticated one...



      You are up very late in all fairness to you Sal so I'd better explain the last one isn't real
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      • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
        I'm about as domesticated as you can get. Let me check a few things;

        Nope, my ears aren't floppy.
        My hands and feet aren't floppy
        My limbs aren't floppy.
        My head is huge...but not floppy.

        (zipping sound) My...Dog Gone It!
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeAmbrosio
      Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

      The sun is about to come up here - so it's late and I'm tired...........but..........

      I can only think of two species with floppy ears - dogs and bunnies.

      Short or curly tails seem maybe a little more prevalent. But what the heck domestic mammals have floppy ears besides dogs and bunnies? I've never once in my life seen a floppy eared cat, hamster, guinea pig, bird, ferret, horse, donkey.........well, you get the idea.

      Smaller brain describes my exes - but not my dogs.
      Ok, not for nothing, but if you can say "exes", as in more than one, maybe it's not their brains that are smaller...

      (just gimme a 2 second head start before you start flinging object my way...LOL)
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      • Profile picture of the author HeySal
        Originally Posted by MikeAmbrosio View Post

        Ok, not for nothing, but if you can say "exes", as in more than one, maybe it's not their brains that are smaller...

        (just gimme a 2 second head start before you start flinging object my way...LOL)
        Touché. Well placed jab but no damage.

        Just adventurous and impulsive with a high tolerance level. The tolerance level is gone now.

        Okay I read the article I want to see the floppy eared fox. I could see in the pic that the facial structure was shortening as described, but didn't see any change in the ears - even on the other links I've looked up so far.
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    Next day - yeah, I figured out the bird was a photoshop without so much as an RCA dog head tilt.

    I've never seen that breed of cat before. The guinea pigs, I didn't think of as floppy since they've always held their ears out to the side kinda funny when they hear something that they really key into - but from the pic, yeah, okay, I'll concede floppiness. I remembered donkey's and burros last night.

    I might even try to read the article now. My dogs have all had floppy ears -- and they were just outrageous on the cute meter.
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    Originally Posted by whateverpedia View Post

    An interesting read for animal lovers:



    Why so many domesticated mammals have floppy ears


    I'm not sure if these findings also apply to Martian fluffy bunnies though.
    Martian fluffy bunnies have nothing on Earth's fluffy bunnies. It's hard to say which way the ears lay sometimes though.


    No. That's not photoshopped.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joe Stewart
      Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

      Martian fluffy bunnies have nothing on Earth's fluffy bunnies. It's hard to say which way the ears lay sometimes though.


      No. That's not photoshopped.
      Looks like a Tribble.
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