Predicting cetacean audiograms

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TitlePredicting cetacean audiograms
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2008
AuthorsMountain, D. C., A. L. Zosuls, S. O. Newburg, and D. R. Ketten
JournalBioacoustics
Volume17
Start Page77
Issue1-3
Pagination77-80
Date Published2008
Type of ArticleScientific
Keywordsbasilar membrane, cetacean audiograms, cochlea, hearing range, high-frequency, low-frequency, middle ear
Abstract

Our ability to predict the impact of sound on marine mammals is 78 limited by our lack of knowledge about the audiogram for many endangered species. Hearing range in virtually all mammals depends on a combination of middle ear and cochlear properties. The low frequency portion of the audiogram is dominated by the middle ear transfer function, whereas the high-frequency limit is determined by the cochlear frequency-place map. Here we discuss how basilar membrane and middle ear stiffness data can be combined in a computational model that can be used to predict cetacean audiograms.