Candara font basline shifts some numbers?

[djsound]

So I have often wondered why this happens. Some fonts (including Candara) shift the baseline (or something) of some numbers and I have no idea why. Does anyone know why? I have attached a photo so you can see what I mean..

 

[ergdegdeg]

It's called text figures. They are used to make numbers integrate better with text.

 

[djsound]

Very interesting. Thanks for the info. I tried to google it but I had NO idea what to look for..