Early development and orientation of the acoustic funnel provides insight into the evolution of sound reception pathways in cetaceans

PloS One
Maya Yamato, Nicholas D Pyenson

Abstract

Whales receive underwater sounds through a fundamentally different mechanism than their close terrestrial relatives. Instead of hearing through the ear canal, cetaceans hear through specialized fatty tissues leading to an evolutionarily novel feature: an acoustic funnel located anterior to the tympanic aperture. We traced the ontogenetic development of this feature in 56 fetal specimens from 10 different families of toothed (odontocete) and baleen (mysticete) whales, using X-ray computed tomography. We also charted ear ossification patterns through ontogeny to understand the impact of heterochronic developmental processes. We determined that the acoustic funnel arises from a prominent V-shaped structure established early in ontogeny, formed by the malleus and the goniale. In odontocetes, this V-formation develops into a cone-shaped funnel facing anteriorly, directly into intramandibular acoustic fats, which is likely functionally linked to the anterior orientation of sound reception in echolocation. In contrast, the acoustic funnel in balaenopterids rotates laterally, later in fetal development, consistent with a lateral sound reception pathway. Balaenids and several fossil mysticetes retain a somewhat anteriorly oriented acous...Continue Reading

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Citations

Dec 21, 2016·Journal of Anatomy·Tara TheanRobert J Asher
Feb 10, 2019·The Anatomical Record : Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology·Rachel A Roston, V Louise Roth
Sep 22, 2021·The Anatomical Record : Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology·Rachel Racicot

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