by Kyle Rowe
This article is based on one of NPR’s Skunk Bear videos. These videos are informational and answer many burning questions.
Have you ever wondered why dogs have floppy ears and wolves don’t? And dogs aren’t the only animals to flop their ears, some examples are sheep, pigs, cows, horses and goats. Scientists have wondered this, too.
Scientists determined that this is due to special cells called neural crest cells. These special cells show up quite early in the developmental stage. They cause adrenaline to develop. Wolves with a lot of adrenaline will be more scared and aggressive towards humans. They wouldn’t be allowed to breed, while the ones with less adrenaline would be allowed to breed, passing the gene on to their offspring.
Adrenaline is one of many things the neural crest cells make. Another thing they are responsible for is cartilage. And if you think about it, it makes sense right? German Shepherds have pointy ears, and are not the most friendly dogs. German Pinschers have pointy ears, not friendly. Golden Retrievers floppy ears, very friendly, I could give examples all day and the point will still stand.