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stealth57 t1_iztpb04 wrote

Reply to comment by Elmalab in How dogs scoop up water. by ooMEAToo

  1. Most dogs’ snouts are long, they’d have to dunk their entire head under water.

  2. They don’t have control over their lips like we do but that’s also because of their long snouts.

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TheMegabro t1_izv309l wrote

  1. The water could be freezing cold, which would be make head dunking even worse.

  2. The water, although not freezing, might have alligators or crocodiles in it. Any distance you can put between you and the water helps when dodging a surprise lunge from the water.

  3. Lowering the head really far cuts down how well an animal with forward-facing eyes can see the land surrounding the water, inviting a surprise attack from large land predators, cougars/bears/lions/etc.

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TheMegabro t1_izvte3w wrote

  1. If the water is a shallow enough puddle, a wolf sticking their face in to slurp directly wouldn't even work. They'd end up having to lick the puddle and swallowing after each lick - oh my god, lapping is just an evolutionary optimization of puddle-licking.
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Elmalab t1_izwm21g wrote

are there more species that drink like this?

because all those points would be a disadvantage for a lot more animals than just dogs.

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Elmalab t1_izwm30f wrote

are there more species that drink like this?

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