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Russell AP, Bauer AM. Vocalization by extant nonavian reptiles: A synthetic overview of phonation and the vocal apparatus. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2020; 304:1478-1528. [PMID: 33099849 DOI: 10.1002/ar.24553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2020] [Revised: 08/13/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Among amniote vertebrates, nonavian reptiles (chelonians, crocodilians, and lepidosaurs) are regarded as using vocal signals rarely (compared to birds and mammals). In all three reptilian clades, however, certain taxa emit distress calls and advertisement calls using modifications of regions of the upper respiratory tract. There is no central tendency in either acoustic mechanisms or the structure of the vocal apparatus, and many taxa that vocalize emit only relatively simple sounds. Available evidence indicates multiple origins of true vocal abilities within these lineages. Reptiles thus provide opportunities for studying the early evolutionary stages of vocalization. The early literature on the diversity of form of the laryngotracheal apparatus of reptiles boded well for the study of form-function relationships, but this potential was not extensively explored. Emphasis shifted away from anatomy, however, and centered instead on acoustic analysis of the sounds that are produced. New investigative techniques have provided novel ways of studying the form-function aspects of the structures involved in phonation and have brought anatomical investigation to the forefront again. In this review we summarize what is known about hearing in reptiles in order to contextualize the vocal signals they generate and the sound-producing mechanisms responsible for them. The diversity of form of the sound producing apparatus and the increasing evidence that reptiles are more dependent upon vocalization as a communication medium than previously thought indicates that they have a significant role to play in the understanding of the evolution of vocalization in amniotes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony P Russell
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Aaron M Bauer
- Department of Biology and Center for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Stewardship, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, USA
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Willis KL, Carr CE. A circuit for detection of interaural time differences in the nucleus laminaris of turtles. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017; 220:4270-4281. [PMID: 28947499 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.164145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2017] [Accepted: 09/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The physiological hearing range of turtles is approximately 50-1000 Hz, as determined by cochlear microphonics ( Wever and Vernon, 1956a). These low frequencies can constrain sound localization, particularly in red-eared slider turtles, which are freshwater turtles with small heads and isolated middle ears. To determine if these turtles were sensitive to interaural time differences (ITDs), we investigated the connections and physiology of their auditory brainstem nuclei. Tract tracing experiments showed that cranial nerve VIII bifurcated to terminate in the first-order nucleus magnocellularis (NM) and nucleus angularis (NA), and the NM projected bilaterally to the nucleus laminaris (NL). As the NL received inputs from each side, we developed an isolated head preparation to examine responses to binaural auditory stimulation. Magnocellularis and laminaris units responded to frequencies from 100 to 600 Hz, and phase-locked reliably to the auditory stimulus. Responses from the NL were binaural, and sensitive to ITD. Measures of characteristic delay revealed best ITDs around ±200 μs, and NL neurons typically had characteristic phases close to 0, consistent with binaural excitation. Thus, turtles encode ITDs within their physiological range, and their auditory brainstem nuclei have similar connections and cell types to other reptiles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katie L Willis
- University of Maryland, Department of Biology, Center for Comparative and Evolutionary Biology of Hearing, Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Graduate Program, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Catherine E Carr
- University of Maryland, Department of Biology, Center for Comparative and Evolutionary Biology of Hearing, Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Graduate Program, College Park, MD 20742, USA
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van Hemmen JL, Christensen-Dalsgaard J, Carr CE, Narins PM. Animals and ICE: meaning, origin, and diversity. BIOLOGICAL CYBERNETICS 2016; 110:237-246. [PMID: 27838890 PMCID: PMC6020042 DOI: 10.1007/s00422-016-0702-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
ICE stands for internally coupled ears. More than half of the terrestrial vertebrates, such as frogs, lizards, and birds, as well as many insects, are equipped with ICE that utilize an air-filled cavity connecting the two eardrums. Its effect is pronounced and twofold. On the basis of a solid experimental and mathematical foundation, it is known that there is a low-frequency regime where the internal time difference (iTD) as perceived by the animal may well be 2-5 times higher than the external ITD, the interaural time difference, and that there is a frequency plateau over which the fraction iTD/ITD is constant. There is also a high-frequency regime where the internal level (amplitude) difference iLD as perceived by the animal is much higher than the interaural level difference ILD measured externally between the two ears. The fundamental tympanic frequency segregates the two regimes. The present special issue devoted to "internally coupled ears" provides an overview of many aspects of ICE, be they acoustic, anatomical, auditory, mathematical, or neurobiological. A focus is on the hotly debated topic of what aspects of ICE animals actually exploit neuronally to localize a sound source.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Leo van Hemmen
- Physik Department T35 and BCCN-Munich, Technische Universität München, 85747, Garching bei München, Germany.
| | | | - Catherine E Carr
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742-4415, USA
| | - Peter M Narins
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
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Pereyra MO, Womack MC, Barrionuevo JS, Blotto BL, Baldo D, Targino M, Ospina-Sarria JJ, Guayasamin JM, Coloma LA, Hoke KL, Grant T, Faivovich J. The complex evolutionary history of the tympanic middle ear in frogs and toads (Anura). Sci Rep 2016; 6:34130. [PMID: 27677839 PMCID: PMC5039693 DOI: 10.1038/srep34130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2016] [Accepted: 08/30/2016] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Most anurans possess a tympanic middle ear (TME) that transmits sound waves to the inner ear; however, numerous species lack some or all TME components. To understand the evolution of these structures, we undertook a comprehensive assessment of their occurrence across anurans and performed ancestral character state reconstructions. Our analysis indicates that the TME was completely lost at least 38 independent times in Anura. The inferred evolutionary history of the TME is exceptionally complex in true toads (Bufonidae), where it was lost in the most recent common ancestor, preceding a radiation of >150 earless species. Following that initial loss, independent regains of some or all TME structures were inferred within two minor clades and in a radiation of >400 species. The reappearance of the TME in the latter clade was followed by at least 10 losses of the entire TME. The many losses and gains of the TME in anurans is unparalleled among tetrapods. Our results show that anurans, and especially bufonid toads, are an excellent model to study the behavioural correlates of earlessness, extratympanic sound pathways, and the genetic and developmental mechanisms that underlie the morphogenesis of TME structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martín O. Pereyra
- Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”-CONICET, Buenos Aires, C1405DJR, Argentina
| | - Molly C. Womack
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - J. Sebastián Barrionuevo
- Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”-CONICET, Buenos Aires, C1405DJR, Argentina
| | - Boris L. Blotto
- Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”-CONICET, Buenos Aires, C1405DJR, Argentina
- Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil
| | - Diego Baldo
- Laboratorio de Genética Evolutiva, Instituto de Biología Subtropical (CONICET-UNaM), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Químicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Misiones, Posadas, N3300LQF, Argentina
| | - Mariane Targino
- Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil
| | - Jhon Jairo Ospina-Sarria
- Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil
| | - Juan M. Guayasamin
- Centro de Investigación de la Biodiversidad y Cambio Climático (BioCamb), Ingeniería en Biodiversidad y Cambio Climático, Facultad de Medio Ambiente, Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica, Diego de Robles y Vía Interoceánica, 17-1200-841, Quito, EC170103, Ecuador
- Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales COCIBA, Laboratorio de Biología Evolutiva, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Campus Cumbayá, Quito, 170901, Ecuador
| | - Luis A. Coloma
- Centro Jambatu de Investigación y Conservación de Anfibios, Fundación Otonga, Geovanni Farina 566 y Baltra, San Rafael, Quito, Ecuador
- Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam, Muyuna, Tena, Ecuador
| | - Kim L. Hoke
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - Taran Grant
- Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil
| | - Julián Faivovich
- Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”-CONICET, Buenos Aires, C1405DJR, Argentina
- Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, C1428EGA, Argentina
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Bierman HS, Thornton JL, Jones HG, Koka K, Young BA, Brandt C, Christensen-Dalsgaard J, Carr CE, Tollin DJ. Biophysics of directional hearing in the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014; 217:1094-107. [PMID: 24671963 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.092866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Physiological and anatomical studies have suggested that alligators have unique adaptations for spatial hearing. Sound localization cues are primarily generated by the filtering of sound waves by the head. Different vertebrate lineages have evolved external and/or internal anatomical adaptations to enhance these cues, such as pinnae and interaural canals. It has been hypothesized that in alligators, directionality may be enhanced via the acoustic coupling of middle ear cavities, resulting in a pressure difference receiver (PDR) mechanism. The experiments reported here support a role for a PDR mechanism in alligator sound localization by demonstrating that (1) acoustic space cues generated by the external morphology of the animal are not sufficient to generate location cues that match physiological sensitivity, (2) continuous pathways between the middle ears are present to provide an anatomical basis for coupling, (3) the auditory brainstem response shows some directionality, and (4) eardrum movement is directionally sensitive. Together, these data support the role of a PDR mechanism in crocodilians and further suggest this mechanism is a shared archosaur trait, most likely found also in the extinct dinosaurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hilary S Bierman
- Center for Comparative and Evolutionary Biology of Hearing, Department of Biology, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD 20742, USA
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