How anatomically correct are animal emoji? Great question, people! And one that the folks at National Geographic News pondered. So they interviewed a bunch of biologists — who, as one might have predicted, had pretty dim, if hilarious, views on the matter:
For instance, Anne Hilborn, a researcher studying cheetahs at Virginia Tech University, takes particular umbrage with the way Microsoft has given their version of a zebra emoji pink ears and nostrils.
“Seriously? Even when zebras die of diseases that have them bleed from their orifices, their nostrils aren’t pink,” says Hilborn.
Similarly, Hilborn says all the lion emojis are terrible representations. However, she deemed Samsung’s version the most egregious, with what appears to be “an explosion of shaving cream below the nose.”
But, good news: Bird emoji seem to check out. Mostly! Caterpillars, bats, and leopards, not so much.