...D.B. Webster; Molly Webster The predatory strikes of a sidewinder rattlesnake (Crotalus cerastes) can be avoided by kangaroo rats (Dipodomys merriami) in the normal condition and also after either of two surgical manipulations: (1) removal of the eyes, or (2) reduction of middle ear volume. When...

...D.B. Webster; Molly Webster Four kangaroo rats were conditioned by shock avoidance and their auditory thresholds determined from 125 through 8,000 Hz. The middle ears were reduced and thresholds re-determined. Normal mean thresholds range from about 9 dB at 1,000 Hz, to 21 dB at 125 Hz and 19 dB...

...Christopher S. von Bartheld The paratympanic organ (Vitali organ) is a small sensory organ in the middle ear of birds. It possesses a sensory epithelium with hair cells similar to those of the inner ear. Injection of fluorescent carbocyanine tracers into the paratympanic organ of 9- to 11-day-old...

...–300 Hz. These results suggest that small anurans can utilize nontympanic pathways for effective sound reception over a broad frequency range, whereas large anurans are more restricted to using a standard tympanic middle ear for hearing. This effect of body size on the utility of nontympanic sound...

...Christopher S. von Bartheld The paratympanic organ (PTO) is a small sense organ in the middle ear of birds. This luminal organ contains mechanoreceptors (hair cells) with afferent and efferent innervation and may function as a baroreceptor. The hypothesis that elastic ligaments of the middle ear...

...Matthew J. Mason; Chris C. Lin; Peter M. Narins Impedance transformation by the middle ear of terrestrial vertebrates is considered to be a function of the ossicular lever apparatus, which increases force and decreases velocity at the stapes footplate relative to the tympanic membrane...

...Jason A. Neeser; Christopher S. von Bartheld The paratympanic organ (PTO) in the middle ear has been described in numerous bird species, but little is known about the distribution of this presumed lateral line remnant in other vertebrate classes. Here we provide evidence for a PTO in juvenile...