Wiggling ears may have once helped us hear

But these wee tugs on the ear probably aren’t helpful today

A close-up photograph shows an ear with a silver hoop earring and black wavy hair behind the ear.

Listening intently activates tiny ear muscles, the same ones that allow some people to wiggle their ears, a new study show.

Lucy Lambriex/DigitalVision/Getty Images

Ancient ear-wiggling muscles kick on when people strain to hear.