Evolution at its finest

the other day i was trying to level out my sideburns, and was doing so in relation to my ears (i try to level the 'burns off at earhole level). i decided to step back and admire my work, but to my dismay i realized that they were not at the same level with each other despite being at the same level to their respective ear. after some confusion, i realized what the problem was. it turns out my ears are attached at different heights across from each other on my head. the right one is slightly higher than the left. at first i was like, "what the h, this sucks," but then i remembered an interesting fact from when i took vertebrate natural history sophmore year. nature's earbox, the barn owl, has this same adaptation, with its two ears asymetrically placed on its head. just ask the barn owl trust:

"the ear openings... are placed asymmetrically (one higher than the other). As a result, sounds reaching the two ears are heard very differently. By analysing these differences the owl's [or stephen's] brain automatically calculates the exact position of the sound-source. Experiments with captive owls [or stephen] have confirmed that they are able to locate and capture prey in total darkness - using their hearing alone."

and i'm always locating prey in total darkness, so i guess we all now know why. my extra-intelligent design puts me head and shoulders above humans and on par with owl-human hybrids in terms of audition. before you all start hailing me as your evolutionary superior, let me tell you it's not all fun and games. when i wear sunglasses they are slighly tilted on my head. it's not really that noticeable, but if you already know about it and you're looking for it you'll see that they get kinda crooked.

my new owl brothers and a barn owl's ear