The species diversity of animals living on Earth is amazing. Some of them have incredible strength, others develop tremendous speeds, and others are considered champions in size … ears! From our article you will find out what the most eared animals can be found on the planet. So let's get started.
African Elephant
Many people believe that the largest "locators" belong to representatives of this species of mammals. However, this view is only partly correct. The fact is that the ears of an elephant are really the largest, if you look at their dimensions and do not correlate with other indicators. But the ratio of the size of the ears and the length and width of the elephant's body is not the largest.
The huge size of the hearing organs (up to 1.5 m in length) is due to several reasons. For example, they perform the function of a fan, since elephants live in hot areas with an arid climate. By fanning their ears, they endure the heat more easily.
Jerboa
The jerboa is considered the real record holder. The body length of this tiny rodent is 9 cm, and the earsgrow up to 5 cm. This means that the length of the organs is more than half the body of the jerboa. Impressive, right?
The animal lives in desert regions and is nocturnal. It feeds on insects and is agile. It has long ears for several reasons. Firstly, they protect the animal from overheating in hot deserts. Secondly, thanks to them, jerboas hear well and quickly respond to any movement. This helps them in hunting.
Representatives of this species are listed in the Red Book. They are considered understudied. They are found in the Gobi Desert, namely in Mongolia and China. The difficulties of studying this species are that all individuals live in hard-to-reach tunnels deep underground. They rise to the surface only at night.
Eared hedgehog
These animals live in many regions, including the Middle East, China, North Africa, the Caucasus and India. You can also meet them in Russia. Representatives of this species differ from an ordinary hedgehog in the length of their ears: they reach dimensions of up to 5 cm, despite the fact that the entire body can be measured with a ruler designed for 15-25 cm.
Needles are only in the back, so the hedgehogs seem bald. On the chest and abdomen is light gray, sometimes white fur. The muzzle can be light brown or grayish black. The color of the needles is determined by the habitat of the animal and can vary from light to very dark. The ears are mobile, they are slightly bent back, which makes hedgehogs lop-eared. However, the size of the auditory organs reaches large sizes for a reason: with the help ofears animals regulate body temperature.
Serval
This graceful predator holds the record among felines. He has the largest ear among all relatives! Servals are slender, long-legged cats of medium size. They are found in Africa, with the exception of desert areas. However, at present, daredevils keep servals at home.
The animal hunts skillfully. During the search for prey, servals freeze and listen. They can spend 15 minutes in one position. They jump very high.
Rabbits
The ears of a hare are no doubt very long. But today we will talk about rabbits. Breeding scientists have done a great job of breeding a new breed of rabbits. She was called the "Brussels ram". She appeared quite recently. The unusual naming is due to the external features of rabbits: their ears are twisted so tightly that they resemble ram horns. If you expand the organs of hearing, they can reach a length of several meters. It is still unknown what caused this feature. Nowadays, rabbits of this breed are more and more often chosen as pets.
Fenech
Surely you have read the fairy tale about the Little Prince. If so, then you remember that the main character's companion was the Fox. According to one version, the prototype of this character was Antoine de Saint-Exupery's handmade Fenech. These animals look very remarkable: they have light fur, long whiskers and large ears. With their help, they hunt at night when they come out oftheir minks to the desert surface.
Fenech is the smallest fox, weighing no more than 2 kg. In size inferior to domestic cats. The animal is considered the champion in the length of the ears among predators. After all, the hearing organs grow up to 15 cm in each individual. These cute animals live in Africa, but recently poaching has become more frequent. In this regard, this type of fox was listed in the Red Book.
Wushan
Description of a bat of this species could not be missing in our material, because all of the above animals simply fade next to the ears. The fact is that the ears of funny bats have the same length as their torso, i.e. about 5 cm. The name fully corresponds to the appearance of the animals. When the ears are sleeping, the organs of hearing are covered with wings. The largest ear among animals helps bats navigate in the dark. The body works as a radar.
Basset Hound
This dog breed boasts the largest hearing organs among its relatives. She was bred by the efforts of breeders to hunt hares. In fact, the pride of the Basset Hound is not the ears, but the nose, because it is able to distinguish smells at great distances.
Fat-tailed Galago
Who else has the biggest ear? The fat-tailed galagos. This is a member of the order of primates. He has a very bright appearance. The length of its body is 30 cm, the tail is 10 cm larger than the size of the body. The length of the auricles reaches 6 cm. In combination with a miniature muzzle and saucer eyes, rather large ears create a touching picture. An interesting fact is that the organs of hearing in galago act like radars. They can be deployed in different directions or folded into a tube. All this helps the animal to quickly respond to movement around him.
Caracal
Until recently, these animals were classified as lynxes, which they look like. But, having studied the genetic features, scientists came to the conclusion that they should be isolated in a separate genus. Caracals are closely related to the African servals we have already talked about and cross well with them in captivity. Representatives of this genus were tamed in ancient Egypt and used for hunting.
Ears are a noticeable feature of these "seals". But in comparison with other cats, the caracal cannot boast of having the largest ear. What makes them unique is the tufts of black fur, which are so long that they almost double the size of the hearing organs.
Madagascar little arm, or ah-ah
There are many types of lemurs. However, representatives of this species of lemurs with the largest ears are perhaps the least attractive among their relatives. One of the most outstanding features of appearance is the huge organs of hearing. With their help, animals hunt. They put their ear to the trees and listen to see if there are edible larvae under the bark. Then, with the help of long fingers, they take prey from the trees.
Thus, among animals there are many champions in sizeears.
