Biomechanical and Structural Modeling of Hearing in Baleen Whales

Yamato, Maya; Ketten, Darlene R.; Arruda, Julie; Cramer, Scott

doi:10.1080/09524622.2008.9753781

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Yet, models indicate that the functional hearing of baleen whales commonly extends to 20 Hz, with several species (blue, Balaenoptera musculus ; fin, B. physalus ; and bowhead whales, Balaena mysticetus ) predicted to hear at infrasonic frequencies as low as 10–15 Hz, and the upper functional range predicted to extend to 20–30 kHz (Ketten , Yamato et al . , Tubelli et al . ).…”

Section: Brief Descriptions Of Cetacean Sensory Systems As Related Tomentioning

confidence: 99%

A sense of scale: Foraging cetaceans' use of scale‐dependent multimodal sensory systems

Torres

2017

Marine Mammal Science

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Research on cetacean foraging ecology is central to our understanding of their spatial and behavioral ecology. Yet, functional mechanisms by which cetaceans detect prey across different scales remain unclear. Here, I postulate that cetaceans utilize a scaledependent, multimodal sensory system to assess and increase prey encounters. I review the literature on cetacean sensory systems related to foraging ecology, and hypothesize the effective scales of each sensory modality to inform foraging opportunities. Next, I build two "scale-of-senses" schematics for the general groups of dolphins and baleen whales. These schematics illustrate the hypothetical interchange of sensory modalities used to locate and discriminate prey at spatial scales ranging from 0 m to 1,000 km: (1) vision, (2) audition (sound production and sound reception), (3) chemoreception, (4) magnetoreception, and somatosensory perception of (5) prey, or (6) oceanographic stimuli. The schematics illustrate how a cetacean may integrate sensory modalities to form an adaptive foraging landscape as a function of distance to prey. The scale-of-senses schematic is flexible, allowing for case-specific application and enhancement with improved cetacean sensory data. The framework serves to improve our understanding of functional cetacean foraging ecology, and to develop new hypotheses, methods, and results regarding how cetaceans forage at multiple scales.

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Section: Brief Descriptions Of Cetacean Sensory Systems As Related Tomentioning

confidence: 99%

A sense of scale: Foraging cetaceans' use of scale‐dependent multimodal sensory systems

Torres

2017

Marine Mammal Science

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“…The mammalian inner ear labyrinth has garnered scientific interest since the late 19 th century, and more recently computed tomographic (CT) scans have allowed the unprecedented exploration of this region (e.g., Geisler & Luo, 1996;Spoor et al, 2002;Yamato et al, 2008;Macrini et al, 2010Macrini et al, , 2013Ni, Flynn & Wyss, 2010;Ekdale, 2013;Gutstein et al, 2014;Ekdale & Racicot, 2015;Groh e et al, 2015). Odontocete (Cetacea: Odontoceti) hearing in general has received a great deal of attention because of interest in studying anatomical modifications associated with echolocation in mammals (e.g., Ketten & Wartzok, 1990;Luo & Eastman, 1995;Cranford, Krysl & Amundin, 2010;Houser et al, 2010;Park, Fitzgerald & Evans, 2016), but few studies exist that have specifically explored the inner ear labyrinths at fine taxonomic resolution within major clades.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Inner ear labyrinth morphology, as an integral aspect of the sensory systems of cetaceans, is linked to important aspects of delphinoid (Cetacea: Delphinoidea) behaviour and survival such as navigating, finding prey, and detecting predators (Mooney, Yamato & Branstetter, 2012), and has the potential to be phylogenetically informative. Although characteristics from osseous external ear morphology are commonly used in mammalian systematics, the investigation of three-dimensional (3D) inner ear morphology has received less attention historically owing to primarily destructive access to this region (although see Ekdale, 2010;Morell et al, 2007;Sensor et al, 2015;Yamato et al, 2008). Morphological aspects of the cochlea have been shown to correlate with hearing and auditory acuity (Parks et al, 2007;Manoussaki et al, 2008), and measurements based on this region have been used to infer hearing capability in extinct whales (e.g., Luo & Eastman, 1995;Geisler & Luo, 1996;Luo & Marsh, 1996;Ekdale & Racicot, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative anatomy of the bony labyrinth of extant and extinct porpoises (Cetacea: Phocoenidae)

Racicot

Gearty

Kohno

et al. 2016

Biol. J. Linn. Soc.

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The inner ear anatomy of cetaceans, now more readily accessible by means of nondestructive high‐resolution X‐ray computed tomographic (CT) scanning, provides a window into their acoustic abilities and ecological preferences. Inner ear labyrinths also may be a source for additional morphological characters for phylogenetic analyses. In this study, we explore digital endocasts of the inner ear labyrinths of representative species of extinct and extant porpoises (Mammalia: Cetacea: Phocoenidae), a clade of some of the smallest odontocete cetaceans, which produce some of the highest‐frequency clicks for biosonar and communication. Metrics used to infer hearing ranges based on cochlear morphology indicate that all taxa considered could hear high‐frequency sounds, thus the group had already acquired high‐frequency hearing capabilities by the Miocene (9–11 Mya) at the latest. Vestibular morphology indicates that extant species with pelagic preferences have similarly low semicircular canal deviations from 90°, values indicating more sensitivity to head rotations. Species with near‐shore preferences have higher canal deviation values, indicating less sensitivity to head rotations. Extending these analyses to the extinct species, we demonstrate a good match between those predicted to have coastal (such as Semirostrum cerutti) preferences and high canal deviation values. We establish new body length relationships based on correlations with inner ear labyrinth volume, which can be further explored among other aquatic mammals to infer body size of specimens consisting of fragmentary material.

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“…However, at present only little is known about the ontogenetic development of marine mammals due to the limited availability of material, particularly of early prenatal stages. Many questions, therefore, remain unanswered, for example, how sound passes through the baleen whale ear (Yamada, 1953;Yamato et al, 2008Yamato et al, , 2012, the role of the internal cochlear anatomy (Ketten, 2000;Manoussaki et al, 2008) or the pattern of distinct character changes of the tympanoperiotic complex including striking extensions of the periotic bone (Ketten, 1992;Luo, 1998;Luo and Gingerich, 1999;Bisconti, 2001;Ekdale et al, 2011;Cozzi et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal cranial ossification of the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)

Hampe

Franke

Hipsley

et al. 2015

Journal of Morphology

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Being descendants of small terrestrial ungulate mammals, whales underwent enormous transformations during their evolutionary history, that is, extensive changes in anatomy, physiology, and behavior were evolved during secondary adaptations to life in water. However, still only little is known about whale ontogenetic development, which help to identify the timing and sequence of critical evolutionary events, such as modification of the cetacean ear. This is particularly true for baleen whales (Mysticeti), the group including the humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae. We use high-resolution X-ray computed tomography to reinvestigate humpback whale fetuses from the Kükenthal collection at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, thus, extending historic descriptions of their skeletogenesis and providing for the first time sequences of cranial ossification for this species. Principally, the ossification sequence of prenatal Megaptera follows a typical mammalian pattern with the anterior dermal bones being the first ossifying elements in the skull, starting with the dentary. In contrast to other mammals, the ectotympanic bone ossifies at an early stage. Alveolar structure can be observed in both the maxillae and dentaries in these early prenatal specimens but evidence for teeth is lacking. Although the possibility of obtaining new embryological material is unlikely due to conservation issues, our study shows that reexamination of existing specimens employing new technologies still holds promise for filling gaps in our knowledge of whale evolution and ontogeny.

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Biomechanical and Structural Modeling of Hearing in Baleen Whales

Cited by 5 publications

References 2 publications

A sense of scale: Foraging cetaceans' use of scale‐dependent multimodal sensory systems

A sense of scale: Foraging cetaceans' use of scale‐dependent multimodal sensory systems

Comparative anatomy of the bony labyrinth of extant and extinct porpoises (Cetacea: Phocoenidae)

Prenatal cranial ossification of the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)

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