Browse Items (4 total)

The origin of whales (order Cetacea) is one of the best-documented examples of macroevolutionary change in vertebrates. As the earliest whales became obligately marine, all of their organ systems adapted to the new environment. The fossil record…

The human vestibule has preserved an ancestral sound sensitivity and it has been suggested that a reflex could originate from this property underlying cervical muscle micro-contractions secondary to strong acoustic stimulation. Previous studies have…

Cetacean middle ears are unique among mammals in that they have an elongated tympanic membrane, a greatly reduced manubrium mallei, and an incudal crus longum that is shorter than the crus breve. Elongation of the tympanic membrane and reduction of…

The whale ear, initially designed for hearing in air, became adapted for hearing underwater in less than ten million years of evolution. This study describes the evolution of underwater hearing in cetaceans, focusing on changes in sound transmission…