The evolution of hearing in terrestrial animals
has resulted in
remarkable adaptations
enabl
ing exquisitely
sensitive sound detection by the ear and sophistic
ated sound
analysis by the brain
.
In this review,
we
examine
several such characteristics, using
examples from insects and vertebrates
.
We focus on two strong and interdependent
forces that have been shaping the auditory systems across taxa: the physical
environment of auditory transducers
on the small, subcellular, scale and the evolutionary
environment within which hearing takes place, on a larger, sensory
-
ecological scale. We
discuss briefly acoustical feature selectivity and invariance in the central auditory
system, highlighting a major difference betwe
en insects and vertebrates
, as well as a
major similarity.
By
doing so within a sensory ecological framework,
we aim to
empha
size
general
principles underlying acute sensitivity to airborne sounds.