Psychology Department, University of Maryland College Park, 4094 Campus Drive, College Park, Maryland 20742,
J Acoust Soc Am. 2019 Jul;146(1):EL71. doi: 10.1121/1.5117168.
Belgian Waterslager song canaries, bred for hundreds of years for a low-pitched song, have also acquired an inherited high-frequency hearing loss associated with hair cell abnormalities. Here, auditory thresholds measured using auditory brainstem responses and psychophysical methods in three different strains of canaries are compared: Belgian Waterslagers, American Singers, and Borders. Border canaries have not been bred for song characteristics while American Singer canaries have been bred for song only since the 1930s. Results show that American Singer canaries also have elevated high frequency thresholds that are similar to those of the Belgian Waterslager, while Border canaries have normal thresholds. These results strengthen the case that song canary breeders in selecting for song characteristics may have inadvertently selected for hearing abnormalities.
比利时水精灵歌雀,经过数百年的选育,拥有低沉的歌声,同时也出现了与毛细胞异常相关的遗传性高频听力损失。在这里,通过听觉脑干反应和心理物理方法测量了三种不同品系的歌雀的听觉阈值:比利时水精灵、美国歌手和边境。边境歌雀的选育并非针对歌唱特征,而美国歌手歌雀自 20 世纪 30 年代以来仅针对歌唱特征进行选育。结果表明,美国歌手歌雀的高频阈值也升高,与比利时水精灵相似,而边境歌雀的阈值正常。这些结果进一步证实了,选择歌唱特征的鸣禽选育者可能在无意中选择了听力异常。