Comparative Studies Of Hearing In Vertebrates

The past two decades have seen an extraordinary growth of interest in the auditory mechanisms of a wide range of vertebrates and invertebrates. Investigations have ranged from auditory mechanisms in relatively simple animals where just a few cells are em ployed for detection of sound, to the highly complex detection and processing systems of man and the other mammals. Of particular significance to us has been the growing interest in general principles of vertebrate auditory system organization, as opposed to a specific and limited concern for the mammalian or even human systems. Some of the interest in nonmammalian systems has risen from the desire to fmd simpler experi mental models for both the essential components (e. g. , the hair cell receptor) and the more complex functions (e. g. , frequency analysis) of all vertebrate auditory systems. Interest has also risen from questions about the evolution of hearing and the covariation (or lack of it) in structure and function in a wide variety of biological solutions to the problems of acoustic mechanoreception. Of course, the desire to fmd simpler experi mental models and the need to answer questions about the evolution of hearing are not unrelated. In fact, detailed analyses of a variety of systems have led several times to the realization that some of the "simple systems" are more complex than initially thought.

Birds and reptiles have long fascinated investigators studying hearing and the auditory system. The highly evolved auditory inner ear of birds and reptiles shares many characteristics with the ear of mammals. Thus, the two groups are essential in understanding the form and function of the vertebrate and mammalian auditory systems. Comparative Hearing: Birds and Reptiles covers the broad range of our knowledge of hearing and acoustic communication in both groups of vertebrates. This volume addresses the many similarities in their auditory systems, as well as the known significant differences about hearing in the two groups.

The Springer Handbook of Auditory Research presents a series of comprehen sive and synthetic reviews of the fundamental topics in modern auditory research. The volumes are aimed at all individuals with interests in hearing research including advanced graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and clinical investigators. The volumes are intended to introduce new investi gators to important aspects of hearing science and to help established inves tigators to better understand the fundamental theories and data in fields of hearing that they may not normally follow closely. Each volume is intended to present a particular topic comprehensively, and each chapter will serve as a synthetic overview and guide to the lit erature. As such, the chapters present neither exhaustive data reviews nor original research that has not yet appeared in peer-reviewed journals. The volumes focus on topics that have developed a solid data and conceptual foundation rather than on those for which a literature is only beginning to develop. New research areas will be covered on a timely basis in the series as they begin to mature. Each volume in the series consists of five to eight substantial chapters on a particular topic. In some cases, the topics will be ones of traditional interest for which there is a substantial body of data and theory, such as auditory neuroanatomy (Vol. 1) and neurophysiology (Vol. 2). Other volumes in the series will deal with topics which have begun to mature more recently, such as development, plasticity, and computational models of neural processing.

To develop a science of hearing that is intellectu The five-day conference was held at the Mote ally satisfying we must first integrate the diverse, Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, May - extensive body of comparative research into an 24, 1990. The invited participants came from the evolutionary context. The need for this integra fields of comparative anatomy, physiology, biophys tion, and a conceptual framework in which it could ics, animal behavior, psychophysics, evolutionary be structured, were demonstrated in landmark biology, ontogeny, and paleontology. Before the papers by van Bergeijk in 1967 and Wever in 1974. conference, preliminary manuscripts of the invited However, not since 1965, when the American papers were distributed to all participants. This facilitated - even encouraged - discussions through Society of Zoologists sponsored an evolutionary conference entitled ''The Vertebrate Ear;' has there out the conference which could be called, among other things, "lively. " The preview of papers, along been a group effort to assemble and organize our current knowledge on the evolutionary-as with the free exchange of information and opinion, opposed to comparative-biology of hearing. also helped improve the quality and consistency of In the quarter century since that conference the final manuscripts included in this volume. there have been major changes in evolutionary In addition to the invited papers, several studies concepts (e. g. , punctuated equilibrium), in sys were presented as posters during evening sessions.

Experimental approaches to auditory research make use of validated animal models to determine what can be generalized from one species to another. This volume brings together our current understanding of the auditory systems of fish and amphibians. To address broader comparative issues, this book treats both fish and amphibians together, to overcome the differing theoretical and experimental paradigms that underlie most work on these groups.

The hearing organs of non-mammals, which show quite large and systematic differences to each other and to those of mammals, provide an invaluable basis for comparisons of structure and function. By taking advantage of the vast diversity of possible study organisms provided by the "library" that is biological diversity, it is possible to learn how complex functions are realized in the inner ear through the evolution of specific structural, cellular and molecular configurations. Insights from Comparative Hearing Research brings together some of the most exciting comparative research on hearing and shows how this work has profoundly impacted our understanding of hearing in all vertebrates.