Abstract
Modern vertebrates display an almost bewildering variety of inner-ear structure and function. Any attempt to understand this variety must begin with a search for unifying principles. Evolution is, without question, the most important unifying principle in the biological sciences. Features of the physiology, ontogeny, comparative morphology and comparative physiology of hearing systems provide an indispensable framework for correctly interpreting the significance of functional differences between individual structural types. All vertebrate hair-cell systems are frequency selective, presumably due to early selection pressures for distinguishing different signals by means of their spectral content. In addition, all systems are tonotopically organized. This paper attempts to emphasize the existence of more than one mechanism of frequency selectivity in vertebrate auditory receptors and to interpret the changes which have occurred in the evolution of the inner ear of terrestrial vertebrates with respect to frequency selectivity. A paper of this length prohibits the development of a detailed review. Where possible, reference is made to review articles.
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© 1986 Plenum Press, New York
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Manley, G.A. (1986). The Evolution of the Mechanisms of Frequency Selectivity in Vertebrates. In: Moore, B.C.J., Patterson, R.D. (eds) Auditory Frequency Selectivity. Nato ASI Series, vol 119. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2247-4_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2247-4_7
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