Arioch wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2024 3:19 am
Human ears seem a little unusual in that the external portion of the ear seems to do very little to improve hearing. Most mammals with good hearing have large cone-shaped external ears that direct sound into the ear, whereas ape ears don't seem to do that very well. Many such mammal ears have pointy ends, but I think that's to do with how the ears are structured and not any specific auditory value of the point.
So no, I don't think Loroi ears being pointy aids their hearing. Loroi hearing might be slightly better than humans since their ears tend to be a little larger and direct more sound into the ear, but I don't think that would be a significant or noticeable advantage.
I found this answer to why human ears are rounded and many animal ears (especially carnivores) often are'nt to be intriguing:
Rounded ears help to focus sound waves inward, increasing fidelity at the cost of overall coverage.
Pointed ears help gather more sound, at the cost of fidelity.
Basically, humans and other primates evolved these ears because of the beginnings of language. It more more advantageous to hear exactly what sound your friend made, to be warned of a threat, than to have a slightly better idea where the threat may be if you heard yourself.
This makes sense. Dog ears are rather smooth, and they often come straight up to a person to hear them (probably to understand what they want).
Humans have the advantage of being able to tell people from a distance and them still understanding.
Of course Loroi telepathy makes this irrelavent anyway.