Question: when you found out the reason for why barn owls hear so well and fly so silently what would this change about your view on the animal

Barn Owl answered on 11 Nov 2017:

Hi! this is a very important question! I do not think it would change my view of the animal.. I think it is always so interesting to know why things work the way they do.. Observing how certain physical characteristics (for instance the shape of the wings) affect certain functions (for instance flight) is not only interesting, but also useful. For instance, I do not think that humans would have been able to design an airplane without first deeply understanding the characteristics of birds. Us geneticists/genomicists are trying to drive these observations even deeper, but attempting to understand not only which changes in DNA affect the characteristics of animals and plants, but also how (i.e. through which molecular mechanisms). This can lead to all sorts of insights, for instance which genes control the formation of wings in birds, or limbs in humans. I hope this answers your question! Yours, Barn Owl