Comparative Aspects of Hearing in Vertebrates and Insects with Antennal Ears

The evolution of hearing in terrestrial animals has resulted in remarkable adaptations enabling exquisitely sensitive sound detection by the ear and sophisticated sound analysis by the brain. In this review, we examine several such characteristics, using examples from insects and vertebrates. We foc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current biology 2016-10, Vol.26 (20), p.R1050-R1061
Main Authors: Albert, Joerg T., Kozlov, Andrei S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Arthropod Antennae - physiopathology
Auditory Perception
Biological Evolution
Ear - physiology
Hearing
Insecta - physiology
Vertebrates - physiology
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Summary:The evolution of hearing in terrestrial animals has resulted in remarkable adaptations enabling exquisitely sensitive sound detection by the ear and sophisticated sound analysis by the brain. In this review, we examine several such characteristics, using examples from insects and vertebrates. We focus on two strong and interdependent forces that have been shaping the auditory systems across taxa: the physical environment of auditory transducers on the small, subcellular scale, and the sensory-ecological environment within which hearing happens, on a larger, evolutionary scale. We briefly discuss acoustical feature selectivity and invariance in the central auditory system, highlighting a major difference between insects and vertebrates as well as a major similarity. Through such comparisons within a sensory ecological framework, we aim to emphasize general principles underlying acute sensitivity to airborne sounds. Albert and Kozlov use a comparative approach to highlight several fundamental mechanisms of hearing in the peripheral and central auditory systems of insects and vertebrates, discussing similarities as well as differences in the context of the animals’ sensory ecology.
ISSN:0960-9822
1879-0445
DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2016.09.017