Summary
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1.
Amplitudes of middle ear structure were measured inGekko gecko, using the Mössbauer effect.
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2.
The amplitude of the columella/extracolumella system is more or less constant up to 1 kHz and then falls off.
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3.
A frequency-dependent lever ratio exists between the inferior process on the drum and the columella.
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4.
Below 2 kHz the drum locations tested all had higher amplitudes than the inferior process.
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5.
The vibration pattern of the drum is simple below 3 kHz, but breaks into at least two peaks above this frequency.
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6.
The drum vibrates in phase at low frequencies, but at higher frequencies larger phase variations exist.
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7.
All the above factors contribute to highly efficient impedance matching at low frequencies, but poor matching above about 4 kHz.
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8.
The eardrum intensity response is linear at the intensities used.
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Supported by Grant A6368 from the Canadian National Research Council, and a grant to B. M. Johnstone from the Australian Research Grants Committee. This work was carried out while the author was a Queen Elizabeth II Fellow at the University of Western Australia. I thank B. M. Johnstone for generously putting his equipment at my disposal for these experiments, and Roberta Webster and Debbie Nolte for expert technical assistance.
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Manley, G.A. The middle ear of the Tokay Gecko. J. Comp. Physiol. 81, 239–250 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00693629
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00693629