Morris Margaret A, Krysl Petr, Hildebrand John A, Cranford Ted W
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC:0205, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0205, USA.
Department of Structural Engineering, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC:0085, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0085, USA.
Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 23;15(1):14075. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-98100-1.
Mysticete whales have bilateral bony ear complexes (tympanoperiotic complexes) that amplify low frequency vibrations in proximity to their vocalization ranges. Understanding the functional mechanics would enable precise predictions of mysticete hearing sensitivity, which is currently unknown. We conducted experiments on a juvenile and an adult gray whale skull from deceased animals to measure the vibrational dynamics between the tympanic bullae and the skull. Relative motions between bullae and skull indicate sound transfer to the inner ear. For the juvenile, assessments were performed on (1) a 3D-printed plastic skull-replica, (2) the original skull after much of the soft tissue had been removed by dissection, and (3) the denuded skull after hydrogen peroxide was used to erode the remaining soft tissues. We excited vibrations in the juvenile skull underwater by projecting sound in a test pool, ranging from 170-1000 Hz. Additionally, we measured in-air vibrations of the plastic, denuded, and adult skulls using a mechanical shaker to drive vibrations anteroposteriorly (rostrum-to-tail) from 150-1000 Hz. The results consistently showed amplification of vibrations at the tympanic bullae compared to the base of the skull, demonstrating a mechanism by which low-frequency sound is transferred from the environment, through the skull, to the inner ear.
须鲸拥有双侧骨质耳复合体(鼓室-耳骨复合体),可在其发声范围内放大低频振动。了解其功能机制将有助于精确预测须鲸目前未知的听力敏感度。我们对两只已死亡动物的幼年和成年灰鲸头骨进行了实验,以测量鼓泡与头骨之间的振动动态。鼓泡与头骨之间的相对运动表明声音向内耳的传递。对于幼年灰鲸头骨,我们进行了以下评估:(1)一个3D打印的塑料头骨复制品;(2)在解剖去除大部分软组织后的原始头骨;(3)用过氧化氢腐蚀掉剩余软组织后的裸露头骨。我们在测试池中通过投射170 - 1000赫兹的声音来激发幼年灰鲸头骨在水下的振动。此外,我们使用机械振动台对塑料、裸露和成年灰鲸头骨进行了空气中的振动测量,振动频率范围为150 - 1000赫兹,从前到后(从吻部到尾部)驱动振动。结果一致表明,与头骨基部相比,鼓泡处的振动得到了放大,这证明了低频声音从环境通过头骨向内耳传递的一种机制。