Although lizards have highly sensitive ears, it is difficult to condition them to sound, making standard psychophysical assays of hearing sensitivity impractical. This paper describes non-invasive measurements of the auditory brainstem response (ABR) in both Tokay geckos (Gekko gecko; nocturnal animals, known for their loud vocalizations) and the green anole (Anolis carolinensis, diurnal, non-vocal animals). Hearing sensitivity was measured in 5 geckos and 7 anoles. The lizards were sedated with isoflurane, and ABRs were measured at levels of 1 and 3% isoflurane. The typical ABR waveform in response to click stimulation showed one prominent and several smaller peaks occurring within 10 ms of the stimulus onset. ABRs to brief tone bursts revealed that geckos and anoles were most sensitive between 1.6–2 kHz and had similar hearing sensitivity up to about 5 kHz (thresholds typically 20–50 dB SPL). Above 5 kHz, however, anoles were more than 20 dB more sensitive than geckos and showed a wider range of sensitivity (1–7 kHz). Generally, thresholds from ABR audiograms were comparable to those of small birds. Best hearing sensitivity, however, extended over a larger frequency range in lizards than in most bird species.
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August 2010
August 09 2010
The auditory brainstem response in two lizard species
Elizabeth F. Brittan-Powell;
Elizabeth F. Brittan-Powell
a)
Department of Psychology,
University of Maryland
, College Park, Maryland 20742
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Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard;
Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard
Department of Biology,
University of Southern Denmark
, Campusvej 55, DK-5230 Odense M, Denmark
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Yezhong Tang;
Yezhong Tang
Chengdu Institute of Biology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Chengdu, 610041, People’s Republic of China
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Catherine Carr;
Catherine Carr
Department of Biology,
University of Maryland
, College Park, Maryland 20742
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Robert J. Dooling
Robert J. Dooling
Department of Psychology,
University of Maryland
, College Park, Maryland 20742
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a)
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: bbrittanpowell@psyc.umd.edu.
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 128, 787–794 (2010)
Article history
Received:
July 22 2009
Accepted:
June 02 2010
Citation
Elizabeth F. Brittan-Powell, Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard, Yezhong Tang, Catherine Carr, Robert J. Dooling; The auditory brainstem response in two lizard species. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 August 2010; 128 (2): 787–794. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.3458813
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