Why Dogs Have Floppy Ears: An Animated Tale

This question vexed Darwin - and now we have a fascinating answer.

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This paper critiques the NCC hypothesis and raises some questions:

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[Wisprsinthedrk]

As for why cats specifically have upright ears....I heard a theory from a few different places that cats weren't really intentionally domesticated by humans like dogs and pigs were. They just basically hug around human settlements because there was a lot of mice there, and humans appreciated their hunting and thus did nothing to drive them away. This means cat domestication could be a good deal less thorough than that of dogs.

[KEENIECRISP]

Why is your dog purple? I'm concerned

[Abelhawk]

Wow! I listened to an episode of RadioLab years back that talked about this phenomenon happening to domesticated foxes, but I never realized it happened in so many other animals.

[MLeoDaalder]

Surely cats have domesticated us, right? That would explain the upright ears of cats. But it wouldn't explain why we don't have floppy ears...

[erzsblasfantaven]

Wouldn't it make sense that domesticated animals are the only ones who can "afford" to have those characteristics?
Maybe they don't need to have perfect hearing or to blend in with the environment because humans will provide them with food and safety

[PestilentAllosaurus]

If I may have someone's input; correct me if I'm wrong. Animals like "domestic" cats or huskies and other breeds might still have more Neuro crest cells than say... A golden retriever.
Cats still hunt, fight over territory and if maybe homekept cats were bred for many many generations of suppressing those activities you might get a result. (what are Scottish fold's temperament? )
Or such with dog breeds, many erect ear dogs still do duties of protection, herding(chasing prey to where master wants) or have more testosterone.

Maybe there is a connection?
Thankyou kindly if you gave me your time. I appreciate it.
(Thank you everyone!)

[UnPuntoCircular]

What in the world? When? Why? Where? Who's got the answers? SKUNK BEAR!

[RepublicD]

Another interesting observation is that the domestication syndrome also creates features that appear cute and friendly for humans.

[ScottaHemi]

Horses and Cats still have upright ears.

though they also have insanely strong fight or flight reflexes. usually flight.

[okkhe]

I think my goldfish has floppy ears...

[evilferris]

I’m gonna tell this to my friend’s Jack Russell terrier the next time it latches on to my ankle.

[georgogiannakis]

Could another possible theory be that those animals with let's say patches on their fur would be less likely to survive in the wild as they are easier to spot, thus through natural selection die out whereas their counterparts living domestically are kept alive by humans and do not die spreading their genes? This would explain mutations such as floppy ears and color patches as both could harm an animals chances of survival by either decreasing their sense of hearing or camoflage respectively.

[thenerdbeast]

The thing about the examples of animals that kept upright ears is that these are animals that are more similar to their wild counterparts. Camelids and cats required far fewer changes to domesticated so they aren't as affected by Domestication Syndrome.

[heagonzxdv]

This channel doesn't get nearly enough views. Keep it up guys!

[owo]

Oh. I see. Another great scientist with my name.



I swear. I'm bound for greatness.

[ShadowEclipex]

Another interesting tidbit that adds to this is how some Russian scientists are breeding of foxes to make them more domesticated and in the process the Foxes are gaining dog-like traits. Like the floppy ears and spotted coats.

[onemoregodrejected]

I also think these make a quite lovely traits, animals with fur patterns and floppy ears are just cute <3... maybe other people in the past tought it as well, psecially for dogs, wich makes them look less wild and more friendly, and was an unconscious selective breeding ? Labs and gold retrievers are the cutest things ever and they all have this ears

[samiamrg]

I recall reading a quote from an ancient herding manuscript that said herding dogs should be pale in color to make them easier to see in the dark and easier to distinguish from wild dogs and wolves. So the coloration of at least some dogs is quite intentional.

[pupating]

It's important to note that this is one approach to addressing the question of floppy ears. There are different ways of approaching the same question in biology (from Tinbergen's 1963 classic paper): mechanism, development, function, and evolution. Here, this partial explanation is focused on the mechanism that may be involved, but does not address the other levels of analysis. Darwin may have been concerned with one approach more than another.

[Mini._.ghost.]

What about dogs that don’t have floppy ears like huskies, malamutes, Samoyed, germanshepards, some dobermans and French bulldogs? Oh and like dogs with longer snouts ?