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6 Fun Facts About Ears and Hearing

6 Fun Facts About Ears and Hearing

Who Knew Hearing Was So Fascinating?

Until you have a problem with your hearing, it’s easy to overlook it. But the world of ears and hearing is far more interesting than you might have thought.

 

Parrots in World War I

Parrots can pick out very subtle differences in pitch, tone, and rhythm. They’re also excellent at locating where a sound is coming from. They’re so skilled, in fact, they stole one duty from the soldiers during World War I: Parrots were kept on the Eiffel Tower in Paris to warn of approaching enemy aircraft.

 

Teeny Tiny Bones

The smallest bones in your body are in your middle ear. They’re called the hammer, anvil, and stirrup (or the malleus, incus, and stapes, for you science fans). They’re critical for hearing, because they help sound information get from your eardrum to your inner ear. All three can together fit on a penny!

 

The Curious Case of the Chorda Tympani

After ear surgery, some people experience changes in their sense of taste! A nerve called the chorda tympani connects your front taste buds to your brain. This nerve also passes very close to your eardrum. During surgery on the middle ear, one common complication is damage to the chorda tympani nerve. A taste disorder — for example, a persistent metallic taste at the tongue tip — is the most common result. Symptoms usually do subside, but it can take up to two years in severe cases.

 

Ears Aren’t for Everybody

Snakes pick up vibrations from the ground using their jawbones. Some spiders hear using nerve-based receptors on their legs, which pick up soundwaves and send the impulses to their brain. Male mosquitoes use feathery antennae covered in fine hair, which sense sound from vibrating air particles.

 

In the Loop

You have three small loops in your inner ear, above your cochlea, called semi-circular canals. They’re lined with microscopic hairs and filled with fluid. Every time your head moves, so does the fluid. The little hairs pick up on the movement and communicate it to your brain. Your brain adjusts your body accordingly to keep you balanced.

 

Your Ears Are Self-Cleaning

Your ear canals produce earwax on purpose! Earwax is antibacterial, and it protects and lubricates your ears. What’s more, your ear canals have a slight downward slope. Your earwax naturally travels toward your outer ear, picking up dirt and debris with it. Sure, we find it gross. But it’s essential for healthy ears!

Four Fun Facts About Animals: Hearing Edition

Do Cats Enjoy Cat Music?

The answer is yes, cats do enjoy cat music! Read on for details and to learn more quirky facts about hearing in the animal kingdom.


Katydids Have Ears on Their Knees

But not so fast: If you were knee high to a long-horn grasshopper, the type known as a katydid, you would not see human ears perched on tiny katydid kneecaps. But the “ears” used by one type of katydid (Copiphora gorgonensis) are remarkably similar to ours.

In our case, an internal eardrum captures sound waves, causing faint vibrations. This makes three tiny bones in the inner ear vibrate strongly. The result is waves in the fluid of the cochlea, and these waves are turned into neural impulses for the brain to interpret.

Similarly, the katydid’s external eardrum captures sound waves, causing faint vibrations. This makes a tiny plate vibrate strongly. The result is waves in the fluid of something much like our cochlea, and these waves are turned into neural impulses and interpreted as sound.
 

Dolphins Use Their Jawbones to Hear Underwater

Dolphins are well known for using echolocation to hear underwater. Using the cavity just below their blowhole, dolphins create whistles, clicks, and other noises. These sounds echo back, and dolphins use the information they get from the echo to learn about the seafloor, water depth, obstacles, prey, predators, and other dolphins.

What isn’t so well known is this: The returning sound waves produce pulses in the dolphin’s teeth and jawbone, and then surrounding fats conduct these pulses to the middle ear. In other words, a dolphin’s teeth, jawbone, and surrounding fatty tissue serve the same purpose as our visible outer ear, ear canal, and eardrum!
 

Elephants Can Talk to Each Other 6 Miles Apart — And You Can’t Hear It

One of the first things you think of when pondering pachyderms is their loud, trombone-like call. But did you know most of their communication among themselves happens using notes at such a low pitch, we can’t hear them?

Known as infrasound, these low-frequency noises can be heard by other elephants more than 6 miles away. What do they use infrasound for? Everything from guiding a herd’s movement to warning away competing males during mating season to keeping tabs on a separated calf.

Researchers in 2012 finally determined how they accomplish this. Rather than tensing and releasing the muscles in their large voice box, similar to purring, they force air through their voice box, just like we do when we talk or sing.
 

Cats Enjoy Cat Music

Can music be used to influence the behavior of cats? Three researchers thought so and developed a theory: Cats naturally communicate using a specific range of frequencies (that is, notes or pitches) and certain tempos. If you played cats some music composed using these frequencies and tempos, they should enjoy it.

The researchers composed two cat songs, then sought out cats to play them for. In total, they went to 47 households with cats and played them the two cat songs as well as two classical songs. The cats showed a strong preference for the cat songs, even moving toward or rubbing against the speaker when a cat song was playing.

How would your cat react? It probably depends on its age: The young and old cats reacted with the most enthusiasm. The middle-aged cats were more likely to be indifferent.


Contact us today if you need to schedule a hearing evaluation!

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title: Four Fun Facts About Animals: Hearing Edition

meta: It may be surprising to learn the different ways that animals hear. Discover four quirky facts about hearing in the animal kingdom.

slug: four-animal-facts-hearing-edition

alt: Illustration of a black cat with perked ears on a background of other kitties frolicking

cat: News

tag: animal ears, do animals have ears, cat facts, animal facts, echolocation, low-frequency noises, infrasound, fun facts,