myrmepropagandist on Nostr: It's always bothered me that drawings of therapsids don't have ears. It bothered me ...

It's always bothered me that drawings of therapsids don't have ears. It bothered me enough I did some poking around to understand why. Apparently, most seem confident that having ears is a mammal thing?

It's interesting that seeing an animal similar to a mammal without one feels... off.

Over mammalian evolution bones from the jaw lost their function and turned into the middle ear. Having sticking out ears goes with having the bones for some reason.

So, no cute ears for Lystrosaurus.