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In-air hearing in Hawaiian monk seals: implications for understanding the auditory biology of Monachinae seals

The auditory biology of Monachinae seals is poorly understood. Limited audiometric data and certain anatomical features suggest that these seals may have reduced sensitivity to airborne sounds compared to related species. Here, we describe the in-air hearing abilities of a Hawaiian monk seal (Neomon...

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Autores principales: Ruscher, Brandi, Sills, Jillian M., Richter, Beau P., Reichmuth, Colleen
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8222047/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34145465
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00359-021-01498-y
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author Ruscher, Brandi
Sills, Jillian M.
Richter, Beau P.
Reichmuth, Colleen
author_facet Ruscher, Brandi
Sills, Jillian M.
Richter, Beau P.
Reichmuth, Colleen
author_sort Ruscher, Brandi
collection PubMed
description The auditory biology of Monachinae seals is poorly understood. Limited audiometric data and certain anatomical features suggest that these seals may have reduced sensitivity to airborne sounds compared to related species. Here, we describe the in-air hearing abilities of a Hawaiian monk seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi) trained to participate in a psychophysical paradigm. We report absolute (unmasked) thresholds for narrowband signals measured in quiet conditions across the range of hearing and masked thresholds measured in the presence of octave-band noise at two frequencies. The behavioral audiogram indicates a functional hearing range from 0.1 to 33 kHz and poor sensitivity, with detection thresholds above 40 dB re 20 µPa. Critical ratio measurements are elevated compared to those of other seals. The apparently reduced terrestrial hearing ability of this individual—considered with available auditory data for a northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris)—suggests that hearing in Monachinae seals differs from that of the highly sensitive Phocinae seals. Exploration of phylogenetic relationships and anatomical traits support this claim. This work advances understanding of the evolution of hearing in amphibious marine mammals and provides updated information that can be used for management and conservation of endangered Hawaiian monk seals. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00359-021-01498-y.
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spelling pubmed-82220472021-06-28 In-air hearing in Hawaiian monk seals: implications for understanding the auditory biology of Monachinae seals Ruscher, Brandi Sills, Jillian M. Richter, Beau P. Reichmuth, Colleen J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol Original Paper The auditory biology of Monachinae seals is poorly understood. Limited audiometric data and certain anatomical features suggest that these seals may have reduced sensitivity to airborne sounds compared to related species. Here, we describe the in-air hearing abilities of a Hawaiian monk seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi) trained to participate in a psychophysical paradigm. We report absolute (unmasked) thresholds for narrowband signals measured in quiet conditions across the range of hearing and masked thresholds measured in the presence of octave-band noise at two frequencies. The behavioral audiogram indicates a functional hearing range from 0.1 to 33 kHz and poor sensitivity, with detection thresholds above 40 dB re 20 µPa. Critical ratio measurements are elevated compared to those of other seals. The apparently reduced terrestrial hearing ability of this individual—considered with available auditory data for a northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris)—suggests that hearing in Monachinae seals differs from that of the highly sensitive Phocinae seals. Exploration of phylogenetic relationships and anatomical traits support this claim. This work advances understanding of the evolution of hearing in amphibious marine mammals and provides updated information that can be used for management and conservation of endangered Hawaiian monk seals. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00359-021-01498-y. Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2021-06-18 2021 /pmc/articles/PMC8222047/ /pubmed/34145465 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00359-021-01498-y Text en © The Author(s) 2021 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Original Paper
Ruscher, Brandi
Sills, Jillian M.
Richter, Beau P.
Reichmuth, Colleen
In-air hearing in Hawaiian monk seals: implications for understanding the auditory biology of Monachinae seals
title In-air hearing in Hawaiian monk seals: implications for understanding the auditory biology of Monachinae seals
title_full In-air hearing in Hawaiian monk seals: implications for understanding the auditory biology of Monachinae seals
title_fullStr In-air hearing in Hawaiian monk seals: implications for understanding the auditory biology of Monachinae seals
title_full_unstemmed In-air hearing in Hawaiian monk seals: implications for understanding the auditory biology of Monachinae seals
title_short In-air hearing in Hawaiian monk seals: implications for understanding the auditory biology of Monachinae seals
title_sort in-air hearing in hawaiian monk seals: implications for understanding the auditory biology of monachinae seals
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8222047/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34145465
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00359-021-01498-y
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