# Why haven't humans ever evolved pointy elf-like ears? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 12, 2015, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488 "2015-10-12T23:05:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/41 "2015-10-14T17:09:26Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > No, it’s not _entirely_ nonsense. Random mutations tend to behave like a form of entropy: They tend to de-evolve from more elaborate structures toward more simple structures, UNLESS there is some adaptive preference toward the more elaborate structure. > > For example: Certain species of mammals live in places where there is little or no light, and in these species, their eyes have tended to de-evolve and become vestigial. Bats, living in caves and coming out only at night, are famously blind. There are [some species of dolphins that live in muddy river waters, and some of these species are nearly blind](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asian_river_dolphin#Description). Whales and dolphins, at some point in their history, had legs, but these have de-evolved. Some cetaceans have a vestigial pelvis and vestigial leg bones. > > Yes, it’s all in random mutations. But random mutations are as likely to add or subtract some structure. Absent some evolutionary pressure favoring the more elaborate structure, you tend to get regression. Your bias as a sighted, legged creature is showing. 😃 There’s no reason to say “de-evolve”, it’s just evolution on a different path. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/42 "2015-10-14T17:58:07Z")
How do you know you killed the wrong dinosaur when you return in the time machine with your T-Rex head? The iPhone in the No Time At all Inc. return room is a triangle. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/43 "2015-10-14T18:03:46Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > those boring round ears, which really aren’t as effective in gathering sound. Not to be all SDMB on you, but, uh, you got any evidence this is actually true? I mean, before we start arguing about why X improvement didn’t happen, maybe we should figure out if X really is an improvement. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/44 "2015-10-14T18:07:06Z")
How the hell do I know? I’m a doctor, dammit, not an anthropologist! ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/45 "2015-10-14T20:37:23Z")
Does anyone know what _Homo sapiens_’ most recent ancestor was that had pointy ears? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/46 "2015-10-15T00:29:45Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I do not see (or it has not been shown) why directional acoustic collectors should be pointy. > > Given the 3-D scoop, which is the way to go (yay Nature!) perhaps “optimal” stiffness to strain considerations of cartilage come into play. > > > [@filmore](#): > > > > The shape of the ear allows it to filter certain frequencies which help us figure out where a sound comes from. Computer headsets take advantage of this to trick your brain into thinking a sound is coming from front or behind depending on which frequencies are filtered out. _Pointy ears might not be as good as this type of filtering and may be at a disadvantage at locating a sound (just guessing)._ > > > > I would also guess that pointy ears might get a lot colder than rounded ears. Round ears can get pretty painful in cold weather. That pointy part that sticks out would be even harder to keep warm. That might also be a disadvantage. Ital added Which I’m not sure is a supporting datum or not, or for which species: 3-D echolocation by virtue of the distance between the ears (which the electronics processor must mimic) is of use to the pointy and non-pointy folk. But, as Galileo didn’t say, all those critters got 'em. The scorecard Them: a million. Us: none. (Not to mention the second, heat transfer issue you mentioned.) There a whole bunch of engineers on SD who know about antennas and acoustic engineering. Maybe they’ll show up. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/47 "2015-10-15T00:42:54Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > How do you know you killed the wrong dinosaur when you return in the time machine with your T-Rex head? > > The iPhone in the No Time At all Inc. return room is a triangle. It’s been done: “Your Portable Connection to Everything in Space and Time” > **[Pyramid](https://theoffice.fandom.com/wiki/Pyramid)** > > The Pyramid is an invention created by Sabre. It is a form of tablet computer, in the shape of a triangle. The tagline for the product is "Unleash the power of the pyramid". As advertised on the Sabre website, it claims to be "Your portable... ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/48 "2015-10-15T02:13:31Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > It’s been done: “Your Portable Connection to Everything in Space and Time” What a relief! [**The timeline isn’t screwed**](http://www.gottabemobile.com/2011/09/30/can-the-pyramid-pad-kill-the-ipad-video/) after all. > [@](#): > > Yes, this is a fictional tablet, but it does remind me of the current iPad competition landscape. Too often we see products announced that tout specs, features and taglines that don’t reflect what consumers really want. Although a notice pops up in Firefox telling me the video ID is invalid. The Time Corps should be informed! ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/49 "2015-10-17T01:06:43Z")
Parrots, I might note, are on exception, in regard to external acoustic collection devices. The Independent, 10/17/15: ([http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11935421/Whos-a-pretty-boy-then-Man-cuts-off-his-ears-to-look-like-a-parrot.html](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11935421/Whos-a-pretty-boy-then-Man-cuts-off-his-ears-to-look-like-a-parrot.html)) **Who’s a pretty boy then? Man cuts off his ears to look like a parrot** Ted Richards, 56, has already had his face and eyeballs tattooed, next he wants a surgeon to turn his nose into a beak With pictures of the disgusting looking guy–but note, he’s of mixed mind: he has _pointy_ where-the-ears-were. So take that, OP. I wonder if the taxpayers’ medical service in England paid for that. ---
**Author:** ![Bandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/94ad74/32.png) [@Bandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bandi)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/50 "2016-05-22T15:40:41Z")
It’s the second most common genetic ear mutation in humans, actually. (First being lop-ears.) Darwin actually wrote a lot about the evolution or human ears. Which you can find a bit about by using Google. I have pointed ears. 🙂 [http://i.imgur.com/4fGLqX4.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/4fGLqX4.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/51 "2016-05-22T19:57:58Z")
> [@Bandi](#): > > It’s the second most common genetic ear mutation in humans, actually. (First being lop-ears.) > > Darwin actually wrote a lot about the evolution or human ears. Which you can find a bit about by using Google. > > I have pointed ears. 🙂 > > [http://i.imgur.com/4fGLqX4.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/4fGLqX4.jpg) They’re not particularly “pointy, elf-like ears”. More pointy than “regular”, sure, but not much, and the baseline is very rounded. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/52 "2016-05-22T23:34:50Z")
> [@Bandi](#): > > It’s the second most common genetic ear mutation in humans, actually. (First being lop-ears.) > > Darwin actually wrote a lot about the evolution or human ears. Which you can find a bit about by using Google. > > I have pointed ears. 🙂 > > [http://i.imgur.com/4fGLqX4.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/4fGLqX4.jpg) How _you_ doin’? ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/53 "2016-05-23T18:53:11Z")
My ears are rounded. I can move my left ear up, about 1/8 inch, at will. - and back down too. However it’s actually just moving the left side of my face using a muscle attached around the ear. I can also independently move my left eyebrow 1/2 inch, Spock-like. And move my left lip upwards-and-outwards 1 inch (kindof sneer-like). All of these are voluntary and what’s most amazing to me is that I have no idea how to talk to the right-side muscles. Those muscles are probably not there, but I can’t even imagine how to ‘think’ them to move. My daughter has a right-ear elfish point. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/54 "2016-05-23T21:24:57Z")
> [@Ornery\_Bob](#): > > … Evolution doesn’t have an agenda and isn’t trying to do anything. Random mutations simply happen. Some get passed along and some don’t. Some have survival advantages and some don’t. There’s no “balance” that is some sort of goal. Evolution simply happens, there’s no destination. Precisely. Evolution has no “purpose” in mind. It’s just the way things happen in nature. The more appropriate question is not “why didn’t we ever evolve pointy ears,” but “why didn’t the pointy-eared mutation survive?” There may have once been some pointy-eared humans. We’ll never know. Some varieties, and some whole species, go extinct. In some cases we can figure out why, but most of the time we can’t. I’d like to say it’s a cosmic craps-shoot, but that would be quite unscientific. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/55 "2016-05-23T23:51:29Z")
I don’t remember parrots having that many horns… ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/56 "2016-05-24T14:24:39Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > [https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/34/05/92/3405926bccd3b54b9eaa9acfa6a454e9.jpg](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/34/05/92/3405926bccd3b54b9eaa9acfa6a454e9.jpg) > 🆒 Extremely well protected from the knees down; if she’s fighting gnomes she’ll be ok. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/57 "2016-05-24T23:50:46Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Most people have never noticed, in the Donald Duck conic strips, illustrated characters who are not members of the Duck family are dogs if male and cats if female. The dog-males have round black noses and pendant floppy ears, and females have pointy cat ears, and still look humanoid enough that the reader does not notice the consistency of the characteristics. I did a google image search on “duck tales characters”, I can’t find a single “cat”, though females are in short supply. However, how do you explain [Boom-Boom Beagle](http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Boom-Boom_Beagle)? ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488/58 "2016-05-25T07:26:15Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > I did a google image search on “duck tales characters”, I can’t find a single “cat”, though females are in short supply. > > However, how do you explain [Boom-Boom Beagle](http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Boom-Boom_Beagle)? How about Black Pete? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-humans-ever-evolved-pointy-elf-like-ears/734488.md?page=2)