The Origin of High-Frequency Hearing in Whales

Churchill, Morgan; Martínez-Cáceres, Manuel; Muizon, Christian de; Mnieckowski, Jessica; Geisler, Jonathan H.

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.06.004

Cited by 85 publications

(153 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…First, the specialized high-frequency hearing of odontocetes is confirmed as the derived condition within Neoceti [3], contra Churchill et al [5], Ketten [9], Milinkovitch [10] and Fahlke et al [11] who hypothesized high-frequency hearing in the common ancestor of Neoceti. Second, low-frequency hearing did not evolve in mysticetes as a result of their evolving extremely large body size.…”

Section: (C) Evolution Of the Extreme Biology Of Baleen Whalesmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Arguments for possessing both high-frequency [5,9 -11] and low-frequency [3,6,25] [5]), which strongly correlate to low-frequency hearing [18], are also highly congruent in archaeocetes and mysticetes (table 1). Lowfrequency limit estimates for archaeocetes and toothed mysticetes calculated using the equation of Manoussaki et al [18] were also all very low frequencies (less than 54 Hz), contrasting to a considerably higher low-frequency limit of 378.31 Hz for the odontocete Steno (table 1).…”

Section: (B) Hearing Across the Archaeocete -Mysticete Transitionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Because of this, we have not been able to establish whether the earliest mysticetes retained the primitive low-frequency hearing of archaeocetes, or initially evolved high-frequency hearing like odontocetes, which was subsequently lost. The latter has been suggested by studies based on the presence of a large mandibular foramen, asymmetry in basilosaurid skulls, analyses of basilosaurid cochlear morphology and ancestral state reconstructions from molecular phylogenies [5,[9][10][11]. For the first time, we describe the cochlear anatomy of toothed archaic mysticetes using micro-computed tomography (microCT) of periotic bones representing Mammalodontidae (Museums…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although it is debated whether the earliest cetaceans (archaeocetes) were low-or high-frequency specialists [3][4][5], archaic odontocetes have been shown to use high-frequency echolocation [5 -7]. However, no descriptions of the cochlear anatomy of early mysticetes have been published, which included the critical transition from predation using teeth to filtering with baleen [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Low-frequency hearing preceded the evolution of giant body size and filter feeding in baleen whales

et al. 2017

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Living baleen whales (mysticetes) produce and hear the lowest-frequency (infrasonic) sounds among mammals. There is currently debate over whether the ancestor of crown cetaceans (Neoceti) was able to detect low frequencies. However, the lack of information on the most archaic fossil mysticetes has prevented us from determining the earliest evolution of their extreme acoustic biology. Here, we report the first anatomical analyses and frequency range estimation of the inner ear in Oligocene (34 -23 Ma) fossils of archaic toothed mysticetes from Australia and the USA. The cochlear anatomy of these small fossil mysticetes resembles basilosaurid archaeocetes, but is also similar to that of today's baleen whales, indicating that even the earliest mysticetes detected low-frequency sounds, and lacked ultrasonic hearing and echolocation. This suggests that, in contrast to recent research, the plesiomorphic hearing condition for Neoceti was low frequency, which was retained by toothed mysticetes, and the highfrequency hearing of odontocetes is derived. Therefore, the low-frequency hearing of baleen whales has remained relatively unchanged over the last approximately 34 Myr, being present before the evolution of other signature mysticete traits, including filter feeding, baleen and giant body size.

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Section: (C) Evolution Of the Extreme Biology Of Baleen Whalesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: (B) Hearing Across the Archaeocete -Mysticete Transitionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Low-frequency hearing preceded the evolution of giant body size and filter feeding in baleen whales

et al. 2017

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“…There are contrasting hypotheses on the evolution of LF hearing: either dominant LF sensitivity (e.g., Fleischer, 1976a;Nummela et al, 2004;Uhen, 2004;Ekdale and Racicot, 2015;Park et al, 2017) or dominant HF sensitivity (e.g., Ketten, 1992;Fahlke et al, 2011;Churchill et al, 2016) was the ancestral state for all Neoceti (Mysticeti and Odontoceti), implying that LF and infrasonic hearing in Mysticeti is either due to retaining (and improving) the ancestral condition or due to a reduction in HF sensitivity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships of cochlear coiling shape and hearing frequencies in cetaceans, and the occurrence of infrasonic hearing in Miocene Mysticeti

et al. 2018

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Abstract. Baleen whales (Mysticeti) are known to use low frequencies (LF; 200 Hz and below) and infrasound (< 20 Hz) for communication. The lowest hearing limits of toothed whales (Odontoceti), which are able to produce ultrasound (> 20 kHz), reach low frequencies. Researchers have tried to understand the evolution of LF and infrasonic hearing in mysticetes by linking the shape of the inner ear cochlea or individual cochlear measurements to known hearing frequencies and making inferences to extinct species. Using landmark-based shape analysis of complete cochlear coiling, we show that cochlear coiling shape correlates with LF and high-frequency (HF; > 10 kHz) hearing limits in cetaceans. Very LF ( ≤ 50 Hz) and infrasonic hearing are associated with, for example, a protruding second turn, a descending apex, and a high number of turns. Correlations between cochlear and cranial variables and cochlear and cranial shape indicate that low LF hearing limits are furthermore connected to longer cochleae and relatively larger cranial widths. Very LF hearing in Mysticeti appeared in the middle Miocene, and mysticete infrasonic hearing had evolved by the late Miocene. Complete cochlear coiling is suitable for estimating hearing limits in cetaceans, closely approximated by cochlear length times number of cochlear turns.

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Cetacean Skull Telescoping Brings Evolution of Cranial Sutures into Focus

Roston

Roth

2019

The Anatomical Record

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Many modifications to the mammalian bauplan associated with the obligate aquatic lives of cetaceans—fusiform bodies, flukes, flippers, and blowholes—are evident at a glance. But among the most strikingly unusual and divergent features of modern cetacean anatomy are the arrangements of their cranial bones: (1) bones that are situated at opposite ends of the skull in other mammals are positioned close together, their proximity resulting from (2) these bones extensively overlapping the bones that ordinarily would separate them. The term “telescoping” is commonly used to describe the odd anatomy of modern cetacean skulls, yet its usage and the particular skull features to which it refers vary widely. Placing the term in historical and biological context, this review offers an explicit definition of telescoping that includes the two criteria enumerated above. Defining telescoping in this way draws attention to many specific biological questions that are raised by the unusual anatomy of cetacean skulls; highlights the central role of sutures as the locus for changes in the sizes, shapes, mechanical properties, and connectivity of cranial bones; and emphasizes the importance of sutures in skull development and evolution. The unusual arrangements of cranial bones and sutures referred to as telescoping are not easily explained by what is known about cranial development in more conventional mammals. Discovering the evolutionary‐developmental processes that produce the extensive overlap characteristic of cetacean telescoping will give insights into both cetacean evolution and the “rules” that more generally govern mammalian skull function, development, and evolution. Anat Rec, 302:1055–1073, 2019. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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The Origin of High-Frequency Hearing in Whales

Cited by 85 publications

References 23 publications

Low-frequency hearing preceded the evolution of giant body size and filter feeding in baleen whales

Low-frequency hearing preceded the evolution of giant body size and filter feeding in baleen whales

Relationships of cochlear coiling shape and hearing frequencies in cetaceans, and the occurrence of infrasonic hearing in Miocene Mysticeti

Cetacean Skull Telescoping Brings Evolution of Cranial Sutures into Focus

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