Let's H"Ear" About These Animals Quiz

African elephants are famous for having the biggest ears in the world, growing up to 6 ft (1.8m) long and 4 ft (1.2m) wide. Their ears are shaped almost exactly like the continent of Africa, which makes them easy to tell apart from their cousins, the Asian elephants. These huge ears are very thin and full of tiny blood vessels. When it gets too hot, the elephant flaps its ears back and forth like giant fans to create a breeze and cool down its blood.

Besides being great fans, an elephant's ears are like super-powered hearing aids. They can pick up sounds from miles away, including low rumbles from other elephants that are too deep for human ears to hear. Elephants also use their ears to "talk" to each other. If an elephant is feeling excited or wants to look big and tough to protect its family, it will spread its ears out wide to show everyone who is boss.

The English lop is the "king of ears" in the rabbit world. While most rabbits have ears that stand straight up, the English Lop's ears are so long and heavy that they hang down like soft, velvet ribbons. These ears can grow to be an amazing 28 inches (71 cm) long when measured from one tip to the other. Because their ears are actually longer than their legs, these bunnies sometimes accidentally step on their own ears while they are hopping around.

Even though having huge ears makes it a little tricky to run fast, they are perfect for helping the rabbit stay cool. Just like a radiator in a car or a big fan, the giant ears let extra heat escape from the rabbit's body so it doesn't get too hot during a nap. They also have powerful hearing, allowing the rabbit to hear sounds far away.

Red kangaroos have some of the most active ears in the animal kingdom. Their ears are very long and pointed, usually measuring about 14 inches (35 cm) in length. What's really cool is that a kangaroo can move each ear all by itself in different directions. While one ear is pointing forward to listen to another kangaroo, the other can be swiveled all the way around to the back like a little satellite dish. This helps them stay safe while they are busy munching on grass in the wide-open Australian Outback.

Since kangaroos live in a place that can get very hot, those big ears are also like built-in air conditioners. They have lots of tiny blood vessels inside them, and when a breeze blows past, it cools down the blood in their ears to help the kangaroo's whole body stay cool.

Mule deer are famous for their giant (7 inches/17 cm), oversized ears that look just like the ears of a mule. Because their ears are so big, they can rotate them in different directions to catch even the tiniest sounds. While they are munching on grass or shrubs, they are constantly scanning the area. They can hear the snap of a dry twig or the soft footsteps of a mountain lion from a long distance away, giving them plenty of time to run away to safety.

When a mule deer hears something suspicious, those big ears stand straight up to help it figure out exactly where the noise is coming from. The ears are the deer's best tool for staying safe in the wild, helping them stay one step ahead of danger while they roam through the hills and forests.

The fennec fox has the largest ears of any canine in the world compared to its body size. These enormous ears usually grow to be about 6 inches (15 cm) long. Since the fox itself is not very big, its ears are nearly half the size of its whole body! If a human had ears that big, the ears would be bigger than their entire head.

The fennec fox uses its giant ears to stay cool. They live in the hot Sahara Desert, and the ears act like little radiators to let heat escape so the fox doesn't get too sweaty. They are also like amazing hearing aids; they are so sensitive that the fox can hear tiny bugs crawling deep underneath the sand. Once it hears a beetle or a lizard moving underground, it can dig it up for a quick snack.

Even though lions are the "kings of the jungle", their ears are smaller and rounder than many other animals. A lion's ears are usually about 4.5 inches (11.4 cm) long. They are shaped like perfect little half-circles, and if you look closely at the back of them, they have a very cool feature: a black patch with a white spot in the middle. These spots are like little signs that help lion cubs see their mom and follow her through the tall grass.

Lions use their ears like high-tech radar to find their dinner. They can hear the faint sound of a gazelle's hooves or the rustle of grass from miles away. Because they can move their ears independently, they can point one forward and one to the side to listen to two different things at once. Their hearing is so sharp that they can even hear the heartbeat of their prey when they get close.

The ears of koala are large, round, and covered in thick, white fur that makes the animals look like living teddy bears. An average koala ear is about 2 inches (5 cm) long. Even though koalas spend most of their day napping high up in eucalyptus trees, their ears are always working. They are shaped like little scoops to help them catch sounds from all around the forest.

Because koalas don't see very well, they rely on their hearing to stay safe. They can hear the loud, deep grunts of other koalas from far away, and they can even pick up the sound of a predator climbing up their tree. Those big, fuzzy ears aren't just for looking cute-they are like a built-in alarm system that helps the koala know exactly what is happening in the trees while they stay tucked away on a cozy branch.

Sugar gliders have thin, crinkly ears that are always on the move. These ears are about 1 inch (2.5 cm) long, which is actually quite big for such a tiny animal that can fit in your hand. Because they are nocturnal, meaning they are awake at night, they can't rely on their eyes to see everything in the dark. Instead, they use their ears like little radars to listen for the sound of a flying moth or a beetle crawling on a tree branch.

These ears are also very important for staying safe while they glide through the air. As they leap from tree to tree, their ears can pick up the soft ruffles of an owl's wings or other predators sneaking nearby. Their ears are made of very thin skin and can twitch and bend to catch sounds from any direction.

The little brown bat has ears that are less than 0.5 inches (1.25 cm) long. While that might sound tiny to you, these ears are actually quite large for such a small animal. They are shaped like little rounded scoops and have a special thin flap of skin inside called a tragus. This part works like a tiny antenna to help the bat figure out exactly if a sound is coming from above, below, or right in front of them while they zip through the night sky.

Even though their ears are tiny, they are part of a hearing system called echolocation. Bats make high-pitched clicking noises that are too high for humans to hear. Those sounds bounce off of tiny bugs, like mosquitoes, and the bat's ears catch the echo as it flies. This tells the bat exactly where its dinner is hiding in total darkness.

The blue whale is the biggest animal to ever live, but it technically has no external ear flaps at all. If they had big ears sticking out of their head, the water would pull on them while they swam, which would make it much harder to glide through the ocean. Instead, they just have a tiny, narrow hole on the side of their head (about the size of a pencil) that is usually blocked by a thick plug of earwax to keep the water out.

Even though they no ear flaps, blue whales are masters of hearing in the ocean. They don't hear quite like humans do; instead, they feel sounds as vibrations that travel through their massive jawbones and straight into their inner ears. This allows them to hear the low frequency sounds of other whales from hundreds of miles away.