Audiograms of three subterranean rodent species (genus Fukomys) determined by auditory brainstem responses reveal extremely poor high-frequency hearing
Language English Country England, Great Britain Media print-electronic
Document type Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PubMed
29025871
DOI
10.1242/jeb.164426
PII: jeb.164426
Knihovny.cz E-resources
- Keywords
- Auditory fovea, Hearing sensitivity, Inner ear, Middle ear, Sound localization, Subterranean mammals,
- MeSH
- Mole Rats physiology MeSH
- Hearing physiology MeSH
- Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem * MeSH
- Hearing Tests veterinary MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
Life underground has shaped the auditory sense of subterranean mammals, shifting their hearing range to low frequencies. Mole-rats of the genus Fukomys have, however, been suggested to hear at frequencies up to 18.5 kHz, unusually high for a subterranean rodent. We present audiograms of three mole-rat species, Fukomys anselli, Fukomys micklemi and the giant mole-rat Fukomys mechowii, based on evoked auditory brainstem potentials. All species showed low sensitivity and restricted hearing ranges at 60 dB SPL extending from 125 Hz to 4 kHz (5 octaves) with most-sensitive hearing between 0.8 kHz and 1.4 kHz. The high-frequency cut-offs are the lowest found in mammals to date. In contrast to predictions from middle ear morphology, F. mechowii did not show higher sensitivity than F. anselli in the low-frequency range. These data suggest that the hearing range of Fukomys mole-rats is highly restricted to low frequencies and similar to that of other subterranean mammals.
References provided by Crossref.org
Ear morphology in two root-rat species (genus Tachyoryctes) differing in the degree of fossoriality
Eyes are essential for magnetoreception in a mammal
Brain atlas of the African mole-rat Fukomys anselli
