Technically, they are テレパスファー (Terepasufaa, Telepasfer?), a peculiar parasitic creature on planet Blancmanche.
According to Mint's character introduction on Japanese Wikipedia,
In the original work, the parts that resemble animal ears on the head are parts of the body, organs for telepathy, and grow on all of her (Mint's) relatives regardless of their gender. In addition, GA2 made it public that the reason why Mint can use telepathy is the effect of Terepasufaa, a peculiar parasitic creature on planet Blancmanche. In the anime, they are ear attachments and react based on Mint's feeling. [...]. Also, just like Ranka, all of her family wear the same headband.
Galaxy Angel (original work)
(Mint) has a telepathic power and even able to read another, hidden, dark side of someone's thought, [...]
Galaxy Angel (anime)
(Mint) doesn't have a telepathic power, [...]
In the original work (game/manga/LN) for Galaxy Angel, it's only mentioned that the ears were parts of the body and capable of telepathy. However, Galaxy Angel II expanded the setting by introducing Terepasufaa.
Terepasufaa as first introduced in Galaxy Angel II: Zettai Ryōiki no Tobira (PS2)
In the game, it's described as a fluffy, parasitic creature living on planet Blancmanche. It doesn't attach to a human (most possibly, it only attaches to people from Blancmanche), and it rarely moves. It has a telepathic power and can be used by gripping it lightly, closing eyes, and thinking about people (unknown for other living things/non-living things). The user can see/know the targets' whereabouts & feelings, and even can suggest the targets to think about the user (to let the user know how they feel about the user).
Related video: Japanese Let's Play on NicoNico Douga (mirror for accountless viewing), starts at 0:33
A Japanese tweet by @mint_mamiya stated that Blancmanche conglomerates from generation to generation intentionally attach the terepasufaa to the newborn children. However, I can't confirm its reliability.
On the other hand, in the anime, they are just ear attachments. There's a scene in each season 3 & 4 where Mint doesn't put its animal ears.
Season 4, episode 26; image courtesy of Normad Type 3's Livedoor Blog (Japanese)
Note that the anime doesn't really follow the original work and thus there are some differences in the detail.