Do Argonians hear through these holes?

ArchMikem · September 2018

While waiting for a Pledge queue I was starting at my Argonian's head while listening to the Bard and started wondering, "How do Argonians hear?" There's no obvious ears on their heads, then when I zoomed in to examine the model more closely I noticed these two dark dots on the side underneath the cheek bone. They look like holes, and since they were the only holes on the head besides the nose, I figured, are those an Argonian's "ears"? Is that how they receive sounds?

Turelus · September 2018

Magic.

Yeah I have no idea, but I don't think those would be hearing holes (I could be wrong), I think their actual ears are not included in the models.

From UESP

Although Argonians appear reptilian in nature at first glance, they also exhibit qualities of fish, amphibians, and even birds: they are able to breathe underwater through small gills behind their ears, swim using the same method as that of a tadpole or eel by moving their tail side-to-side to propel through the water, and are capable of growing feathers.

Koronach · September 2018

Yeah they seem to be excluded in the model, we have ears and the gills are behind those.

Strychnos · September 2018

In past games at least, Argonians seem to lack external ears and instead have an opening with a tympanic membrane inside (just like reptiles from earth). This can look different depending on the reptile.

On Argonians from Oblivion, the ear seems to be the oval spot just behind the eye:
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And in Skyrim the ear appears to be the circular structure above the lower jaw:

Here's the ear structure of some different reptiles for reference:

And a comparison of an anole lizard with and without an ear hole:

For some reason a visible ear spot seems to be absent on the ESO Argonian model, and gills are almost ALWAYS omitted from an Argonian's texture. Maybe this means that they breathe water through magical means, or that their gills are tucked underneath the jaw or inside the mouth.

Regardless, the lack of ears on Argonians in ESO is probably a mistake on the designers part judging by there presence on Argonians in older games.

Koronach · September 2018

If I remember correctly, on Morrowind it said Argonians used to have lungs that could breath water and air.That's what I remember reading at least, now they changed it to gills that are on the neck but hidden under the scales.

Tucker3711 · October 2018

I have heard snakes hear through their tongue, maybe argonians do...

Strychnos · October 2018

Tucker3711 wrote: »

I have heard snakes hear through their tongue, maybe argonians do...

Snakes can't "hear" the same way we do, since they've lost external ears like many lizards have over the course of their evolution.

They still have some remnants of an ear structure inside their skulls, which seem to let them perceive low pitched sounds (at least, in ball pythons). However, it appears that most of a snake's ability to "hear" is through detecting vibrations along the lengths of their bodies.

So if Argonians hear like snakes do, they'd have to lay down on the ground to do it :-)

Tucker3711 · October 2018

Strychnos wrote: »

Tucker3711 wrote: »

I have heard snakes hear through their tongue, maybe argonians do...

Snakes can't "hear" the same way we do, since they've lost external ears like many lizards have over the course of their evolution.

They still have some remnants of an ear structure inside their skulls, which seem to let them perceive low pitched sounds (at least, in ball pythons). However, it appears that most of a snake's ability to "hear" is through detecting vibrations along the lengths of their bodies.

So if Argonians hear like snakes do, they'd have to lay down on the ground to do it :-)

@Strychnos That needs to be a thing! I kind of want to be walking along and find a argonian laying on the ground.