Abstract
In order for an animal to detect an acoustic signal, its ear must be sensitive to the frequency components in that sound. Any sounds that fall outside its audiogram will be inaudible. This is very obvious and has been the basis for most neuroethological studies of animal sound communication. In general, auditory nerve fibers have “V”-shaped frequency tuning curves and complex sounds produce various excitatory patterns of this peripheral array of frequency filters; the remainder of the frequency recognition process occurs centrally (Capranica and Moffat 1983). There is no doubt that studies of frequency processing in the auditory system have proven valuable. But studies of frequency processing by themselves are inadequate to fully understand the neural basis of species-specific acoustic communication. The simultaneous dimension of temporal processing must be included for such an understanding (Capranica and Rose 1983). In fact it may well be that the encoding of temporal features will be more crucial than frequency features in reaching that goal.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bibikov NG, Gorodetskaya ON (1980) Single unit responses in the auditory center of the frog mesencephalon to amplitude-modulation tones. Neirofiziologiya 12:264–271 (English translation in Neurophysiol 12:185–195, 1980)
Blair WF (1958) Mating call in the speciation of anuran amphibians. Amer Nat 92:27–51
Brenowitz EA, Rose GJ, Capranica RR (1984) Neural correlates of temperature coupling in the vocal comunication system of the gray treefrog (Hyla versicolor). Submitted to Science
Capranica RR (1976) Morphology and physiology of the auditory system. In Frog Neurobiology, Llinás R and Precht W, eds. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 551–575
Capranica RR, Moffat AJM (1983) Neurobehavioral correlates of sound communication in anurans. In Advances in Vertebrate Neuroethology, Ewert J-P, Capranica RR, and Ingle DJ, eds. Plenum, London, pp 701–730
Capranica RR, Rose GJ (1983) Frequency and temporal processing in the auditory system of anurans. In Neuroethology and Behavioral Physiology, Huber F and Markl H, eds. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 136–152
Gerhardt HC (1978a) Mating call recognition in the green treefrog (Hyla cinerea): the significance of some fine-temporal properties. J Exp Biol 74:59–73
Gerhardt HC (1978b) Temperature coupling in the vocal communication system of the gray treefrog, Hyla versicolor. Science 199:992–994
Goldberg JM, Brown PB (1969) Response of binaural neurons of dog superior olivary complex to dichotic tonal stimuli: some physiological mechanisms of sound localization. J Neurophysiol 32:613–636
Hillery CM (1984) Detection of amplitude-modulated tones by frogs: Implications for temporal processing mechanisms. Hearing Research (in press)
Littlejohn MJ, Martin AA (1969) Acoustic interaction between two species of leptodactylid frogs. Anim Behav 17:785–791
Loftus-Hills JJ (1974) Analysis of an acoustic pacemaker in Strecker’s Chorus Frog (Anura: Hylidae). J Comp Physiol 90:75–87
Loftus-Hills JJ, Littlejohn MJ (1971) Pulse repetition rate as the basis for mating call discrimination by two sympatric species of Hyla. Copeia 1971:154–156
Martin WF (1972) Evolution of vocalization in the genus Bufo. In Evolution in the Genus Bufo, Blair WF, ed. Univ Texas Press, Austin, pp 279–309
Narins PM, Capranica RR (1978) Communicative significance of the two-note call of the treefrog Eleutherodactylus coqui. J Comp Physiol 127:1–9
Narins PM, Hillery CM (1983) Frequency coding in the inner ear of anurans and amphibians. In Hearing — Physiological Bases and Psychophysics, Klinke R and Hartmann R, eds. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 70–76
Nevo E and Capranica RR (1984) Evolutionary origin of ethological isolation in cricket frogs, Acris. Evol Biol (in press)
Rees A, Møller AR (1983) Responses of neurons in the inferior colliculus of the rat to AM and FM tones. Hearing Research 10:301–331
Rose GJ, Capranica RR (1983) Temporal selectivity in the central auditory system of the leopard frog. Science 219:1087–1089
Rose GJ, Capranica RR (1984a) Processing amplitude-modulated sounds by the auditory midbrain of two species of toads: matched temporal filters. J Comp Physiol 154:211–219
Rose GJ, Capranica RR (1984b) Sensitivity to amplitude modulated sounds in the anuran auditory nervous system. J Neurophysiol (in press)
Schneider H (1977) Acoustic behavior and physiology of vocalization in the European tree frog Hyla arborea (L.). In The Reproductive Biology of Amphibians, Taylor DH and Guttman SI, eds. Plenum, New York, pp 295–335
Walkowiak W (1980) The coding of auditory signals in the torus semicircularis of the fire-bellied toad and the grass frog: Responses to simple stimuli and to conspecific calls. J Comp Physiol 138:131–148
Walkowiak W, Brzoska J (1982) Significance of spectral and temporal call parameters in the auditory communication of male grass frogs. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 11:247–252
Wilczynski W, Capranica RR (1984) The auditory system of anuran amphibians. Progress Neurobiol 22:1–38
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1985 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Capranica, R.R., Rose, G.J., Brenowitz, E.A. (1985). Time Resolution in the Auditory Systems of Anurans. In: Michelsen, A. (eds) Time Resolution in Auditory Systems. Proceedings in Life Sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70622-6_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70622-6_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-70624-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-70622-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive