Abstract
Like elephants, baleen whales produce low-frequency (LF) and even infrasonic (IF) signals, suggesting they may be particularly susceptible to underwater anthropogenic sound impacts. Analyses of computerized tomography scans and histologies of the ears in five baleen whale and two elephant species revealed that LF thresholds correlate with basilar membrane thickness/width and cochlear radii ratios. These factors are consistent with high-mass, low-stiffness membranes and broad spiral curvatures, suggesting that Mysticeti and Proboscidea evolved common inner ear adaptations over similar time scales for processing IF/LF sounds despite operating in different media.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) Joint Industry Programme, and the National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders (NIDCD), NIH. We are grateful to Jennifer O’Malley, Barbara Burgess, and Diane DeLeo Jones for assistance with the histology and to Clarinda Northrup, the Cape Cod Stranding Network, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) for providing specimens. Above all, we acknowledge the mentorship and inspiration of our colleague Hezy Shoshani, who was a giant among his beloved leviathans and colleagues. He died in defense of his life’s work and is sorely missed.
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Ketten, D.R., Arruda, J., Cramer, S., Yamato, M. (2016). Great Ears: Low-Frequency Sensitivity Correlates in Land and Marine Leviathans. In: Popper, A., Hawkins, A. (eds) The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life II. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 875. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2981-8_64
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2981-8_64
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