ANIMAL CURIOSITIES
Which animals have the best hearing in the world?
There are animals with a very sensitive hearing capacity, able to perceive sounds at very high or low frequencies. There are insects that even have their hearing organs on their antennae.
Humans perceive sounds within a range of 40 (very low) to 20,000 hertz. For comparison: bats are able to perceive frequencies of up to 300,000 hertz.
Let's find out together which other animals have the most developed hearing.
Some animals with the best hearing in the world
There are animals with a very sensitive hearing capacity, able to perceive sounds at very high or low frequencies. There are insects that even have their hearing organs on their antennae. Humans perceive sounds within a range of 40 (very low) to 20,000 hertz. For comparison: bats are able to perceive frequencies of up to 300,000 hertz. Let's find out together which other animals have the most developed hearing. (Source: impuls.migros.ch)
Stephan Neuhauss, professor of neurobiology at the University of Zurich's Institute of Molecular Biology, explains.
In principle, the hearing of all mammals functions similarly to humans. In practice, this means that they perceive sound waves that propagate through the air to the middle ear and reach the inner ear through the eardrum. In marine mammals, sound propagates through the water to the ear via vibrations.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ectophylla_alba_in_hand.jpg#/media/File:Ectophylla_alba_in_h
Hearing of man and bat
Man perceives sounds within a range of 40 (very low) to 20,000 hertz; sound is measured in hertz, i.e. the number of oscillations per second. By way of comparison: bats are able to perceive frequencies of up to 300,000 hertz. And what's more, the maximum perceivable frequency limit in humans tends to decrease with age: every ten years, it generally drops by around 2,000 hertz.
Dogs
Dogs have highly developed hearing and can perceive very high frequency sounds. For example, dog whistles emit sounds that are imperceptible to the human ear. They can also distinguish the rustle of an animal in the grass and distinguish their owner's footsteps from a great distance.
Cats
Cats were predators before they became pets, and can detect a wide range of sound frequencies, from 45 to 64,000 hertz. Furthermore, their ability to rotate their ears effectively allows them to pick up sounds from many different directions, surpassing dogs in this.
Horses
Horses have an excellent sense of hearing and are able to point their ears in different directions to detect where noises are coming from. In the herd of wild horses, one horse acts as a 'sentinel' to protect the others from danger, relying on its hearing.
Di Christiaan Kooyman - Opera propria, Pubblico dominio, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?c
Grasshoppers (Caelifera)
The hearing organs of grasshoppers are mostly not located at the two sides of the head, but at other points of the body. In the case of grasshoppers, for example, they are located in the 'knees', while in the case of other insects, in the antennae.
Dolphins
Dolphins are able to hear better in the water thanks to their echolocation system, similar to that of bats but even more effective. They are able to navigate and locate objects in an advanced way by emitting two ultrasounds of different frequencies in different directions. They use this ability to scan organic bodies and locate fish buried at the bottom of the sea. In short, dolphins have a highly sophisticated navigation system, probably the best in nature.
Whales
With their low-frequency communication, whales can reach a distance of 2000 km, which means they can find a partner even during their long journeys. Without this ability, it would be difficult for them to cover long distances and find a mate.
Bats
Bats use their hearing to orient themselves thanks to the ability of echolocation. By emitting ultrasound that reflects off surrounding objects, the bat can perceive the distance, direction and speed of movement of the object. These animals have highly developed hearing but are almost blind.
Charles J. Sharp, Wikimedia
Elephants
Elephants can sense subtle vibrations more than 10 miles away thanks to their large ears. However, elephants use their huge ears mainly to cool themselves.
Animal Curiosities
21/06/2024
The world is beautiful because it is diverse, is a phrase we have heard a thousand times, and this is true not only for human beings, but also for animals.
On our planet, the variety of fauna is far greater than that of human beings, who are basically almost all the same. On the other hand, in the most remote parts of the Earth, but not only there, there are absolutely unique species of animals, so much so that they even enter Guinness World Record. Birds, fish, mammals, so many characteristics that make them absolutely recognizable, and also very rare.
Animal lovers, keep us company and discover all the most bizarre beasts on the planet.