US farms 1 trillion ears of corn a year, using a chemical called Atrazine that in the concentration of 1 part per billion causes male frogs to grow ovaries! Strangely, a higher dosage reduces the risk. Atrazine is the most widely used weed killer in the United States. It has also been linked to cancer in people.
Whales and dolphins have a tool called echolocation, a sonar which allows them to "see" their prey, even it's internal workings! Noise pollution in the water has a significant effect on whales ability to navigate, hunt, locate their pods, and reproduce.
Echolocating animals have two ears positioned slightly apart. The echoes returning to the two ears arrive at different times and at different loudness levels, depending on the position of the object generating the echoes. The time and loudness differences are used by the animals to perceive direction. With echolocation the bat or other animal can see not only where it's going but can also see how big another animal is, what kind of animal it is, and other features as well. - wikipedia
Many modern submarines use their own sonar a low and mid-frequency sonar is so deafening the pressure waves affect animals on the cellular level, causing the equivalent of "the bends" or decompression sickness. For animals with echolocation this causes sonar function to fail and leaves these animals blind, if they're lucky. What often results is massive beachings (update: court blocks sonar 7/6/06)
The French Bulldog's signature upright "bat ears" exist largely because of American breeders in the late 1800s, who pushed for bat ears over the folded "rose ears" some European breeders preferred.
German Shepherd puppies are born with floppy ears, which usually stand up on their own sometime between about 5 and 8 months old, often going through a hilarious one-up, one-down phase first.
In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson caused a public uproar when he was photographed lifting one of his Beagles, named Him, by the ears. Johnson also owned a second Beagle named Her.
The Maine Coon is basically built for winter, with a shaggy water-resistant coat, a thick neck ruff, tufted ears, big furry paws, and a long bushy tail it can wrap around itself for warmth.
With huge ears, big eyes, and a short wedge-shaped face, the Devon Rex has an elfin, almost alien look that has earned it nicknames like "pixie cat."
Siamese cats have darker ears, faces, paws, and tails because their coloring comes from a temperature-sensitive enzyme that produces darker pigment only on the cooler parts of their bodies.
The Scottish Fold traces back to Susie, a white barn cat with folded ears found on a farm in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1961 by shepherd William Ross.
A Scottish Fold's folded ears come from a gene mutation that affects cartilage throughout the body, which can lead to painful joint and bone problems called osteochondrodysplasia.
Scottish Fold kittens are born with straight ears that only begin to fold at about three to four weeks old.
Scottish Fold kittens whose ears never fold are called Scottish Straights, and they're used in breeding programs to avoid fold-to-fold matings.
With round heads, big round eyes, and ears folded flat against their skulls, Scottish Folds are often said to look like owls.
Tigers have bright white spots on the backs of their ears, called ocelli. Scientists think they may help cubs follow their mothers or act like "fake eyes" to warn off threats from behind.
Sharks don't have bones. Their skeletons are made of cartilage, the same flexible material in human ears and noses, which makes them lighter and more flexible.
Legend says Chinese dumplings, or jiaozi, were created by the physician Zhang Zhongjing to treat villagers' frostbitten ears.
Galileo's telescope wasn't strong enough to show Saturn's rings clearly, so he thought the planet had "ears" or two large moons on either side.
The smallest bone in the body is the stapes, in the middle ear.
Ears get longer as people age.
The inner ear helps control balance.
Whether earwax is wet or dry is determined by genetics.
Humans can hear sounds from about 20 to 20,000 hertz, but we lose the highest frequencies as we age.
Ears are self-cleaning.
Your ears keep working while you sleep.
The cochlea, the hearing organ in the inner ear, is shaped like a snail shell.
Ears pop when the Eustachian tubes equalize air pressure.
About 15% of people experience tinnitus, a ringing in the ears.
Your voice sounds different on a recording because you normally hear it partly through the bones in your head.
An ear of corn almost always has an even number of rows, often around 16.
Some Nath yogis are called "Kanphata," or "split-ear," yogis because they wear large earrings through their ear cartilage.
The first stethoscope was a wooden tube for one ear.