As the wolf said to Little Red Riding Hood: “If I have big ears, it’s so I can hear you better, my child!” And it is true that having good hearing is a valuable asset for animals living in the hostile wild world. Indeed, not hearing a predator approaching exposes you to certain death, just as missing the sound of prey can cause you to miss a good meal. The spotted bat, a species of bat, knows something about this. Its ears, which can measure up to 4 centimeters, allow it to detect all surrounding sounds, including the sound of insect footsteps. And yet, it doesn’t even have the largest ears in the animal kingdom.
Among land mammals, large ears are legion and help make them excellent hunters. For felines, such as the caracal or the serval, they are used to detect prey. Similarly, the otocyon megalotis, or bat-eared fox, uses its large ears to spot insects and small rodents moving underground. The fennec fox, the desert fox, uses its ears for the same purpose, but they have an additional function: they also allow it to evacuate heat. The same goes for the hare whose ears exceed 10 centimeters. But, then again, none of them have the biggest ears in the world.
The size of elephant ears is impressive. It represents 17% of their total body size. These giants (…)
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