Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/05/28/owls-have-asymmetrically-place.html
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Obligatory?
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Owls have asymmetrically placed ears to track prey
So do humans
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I think the point is that owls need to be able to accurately locate sounds above and below. Humans tend to operate on a plane, and need to accurately locate sounds left and right (which we gain with our stereoscopic ear placement), but make do with more approximate positioning for up and down (which we do with our ear folds and a familiarity of the sound).
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its head spins a full 270 degrees, three-quarters of a full rotation…
Seems to me the first “full” is meaningless there, NatGeo.
Also is it really “spinning” if it doesn’t even complete a full rotation? Probably takes 2 rotations before I’d use that word.
Owl journalism is really on the decline.
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It’s a stretch, to be sure.
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Wasn’t that the original title for the series? Or one of the candidates
edit: oh, it says so right in your link
edit edit: Sure would have been daft to link your own link back at you
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My asymmetrically placed ears do not help me swoop down on my prey with pinpoint accuracy, they just make my glasses sit sort of crooked.
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Yeah, humans (and most animals) use the timing difference between a sound at both ears to locate the source. One of the owls ears is a little higher and angled downward, though, which lets the owl locate the sound not just along the horizon but an exact trajectory.
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Bah, chickens have that trick down.
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True, but owls don’t get turned into nuggets… 
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Mmmmmmm…owl nuggets…
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Given that the speed of a nerve impulse can be modified by the nerve’s geometry and condition; I have to wonder if there are any animals that have symmetrically placed sensors; but use suitably varied nerves as delay lines to implement a passive phased array system.
Copious extra credit for any animals that use selective compression of the mylin sheaths or something to modify the delays in real time and produce an actively scanned solid state phased array.
Also, someone should probably notify @Katryn; whose owls appear to be exulting in their asymmetry at present.
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A couple of our neighbors put up owl boxes in their trees and now we have several in the hood.
I’m not going to jinx it, I hope, but I haven’t seen roof rats at night in a long time.
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