144
Peter M. Narins
imagined. Vibration signaling provides a means for animals to communicate with
each other without the effort of overcoming the often formidable ambient acoustic
noise levels produced by other calling individuals. It is possible that various
substrates in diverse habitats offer a relatively quiet channel waiting to be
exploited by seismically active animals. Thus the vibration sensitivity of substratedwelling animals is likely to be widespread and may serve as a neuroethological
model for understanding the evolution of vibrational communication systems in
environments characterized by high levels of airborne noise.
Acknowledgments. I thank F. G. Barth for his kind invitation to participate in the
Sensory Ecology meeting in Vienna, his warm hospitality during the meeting, and
his personal understanding during the production of the resulting manuscript.
Thanks are due as well to the Austrian Academy of Science for their generous
support. I am most grateful to R. Cocroft for the loan of the C. calyptratus
recording and to W. Yamada for providing the bimodal second-order kernel.
Many thanks are due to E. R. Lewis for helpful discussions and to M. Mason for
his helpful comments on the manuscript. Work supported by the UCLA Academic
Senate and NIDCD grant no. DC00222.
References
Aicher B, Tautz J (1990) Vibrational communication in the fiddler crab, Uca
pugilator I. Signal transmission through the substratum. J Comp Physiol 166:
345-353
Barnett KE, Cocroft RB, Fleishman LJ (1999) Possible communication by
substrate vibration in a chameleon. Copeia 1999: 225-228
Benedix JH Jr, Pedemonte M, Velluti R, Narins PM (1994) Temperature dependence of two-tone rate suppression in the northern leopard frog Rana pipiens
pipiens. J Acoust Soc Am 96: 2738-2745
de Boer E, de Jongh, HR (1978) On cochlear encoding: potentialities and
limitations of the reverse-correlation technique. J Acoust Soc Am 63: 115-135
Brownell P ( 1977) Compressional and surface waves in sand: used by desert
scorpions to locate prey. Science 197: 479-482
Brownell P, Farley RD (1979a) Detection of vibrations in sand by tarsal sense
organs ofthe nocturnal scorpion, Paruroctonus mesaensis. J Comp Physiol131:
23-30
Brownell P, Farley RD (1979b) Orientation to vibrations in sand by the nocturnal
scorpion, Paruroctonus mesaensis. J Comp Physiol 131: 31-38
Capranica RR (1976) Auditory system: morphology and physiology of the
auditory system. In: R Llinas, W Precht (eds) Frog Neurobiology. Berlin,
Springer-Verlag, pp 551-575
Peter M. Narins
imagined. Vibration signaling provides a means for animals to communicate with
each other without the effort of overcoming the often formidable ambient acoustic
noise levels produced by other calling individuals. It is possible that various
substrates in diverse habitats offer a relatively quiet channel waiting to be
exploited by seismically active animals. Thus the vibration sensitivity of substratedwelling animals is likely to be widespread and may serve as a neuroethological
model for understanding the evolution of vibrational communication systems in
environments characterized by high levels of airborne noise.
Acknowledgments. I thank F. G. Barth for his kind invitation to participate in the
Sensory Ecology meeting in Vienna, his warm hospitality during the meeting, and
his personal understanding during the production of the resulting manuscript.
Thanks are due as well to the Austrian Academy of Science for their generous
support. I am most grateful to R. Cocroft for the loan of the C. calyptratus
recording and to W. Yamada for providing the bimodal second-order kernel.
Many thanks are due to E. R. Lewis for helpful discussions and to M. Mason for
his helpful comments on the manuscript. Work supported by the UCLA Academic
Senate and NIDCD grant no. DC00222.
References
Aicher B, Tautz J (1990) Vibrational communication in the fiddler crab, Uca
pugilator I. Signal transmission through the substratum. J Comp Physiol 166:
345-353
Barnett KE, Cocroft RB, Fleishman LJ (1999) Possible communication by
substrate vibration in a chameleon. Copeia 1999: 225-228
Benedix JH Jr, Pedemonte M, Velluti R, Narins PM (1994) Temperature dependence of two-tone rate suppression in the northern leopard frog Rana pipiens
pipiens. J Acoust Soc Am 96: 2738-2745
de Boer E, de Jongh, HR (1978) On cochlear encoding: potentialities and
limitations of the reverse-correlation technique. J Acoust Soc Am 63: 115-135
Brownell P ( 1977) Compressional and surface waves in sand: used by desert
scorpions to locate prey. Science 197: 479-482
Brownell P, Farley RD (1979a) Detection of vibrations in sand by tarsal sense
organs ofthe nocturnal scorpion, Paruroctonus mesaensis. J Comp Physiol131:
23-30
Brownell P, Farley RD (1979b) Orientation to vibrations in sand by the nocturnal
scorpion, Paruroctonus mesaensis. J Comp Physiol 131: 31-38
Capranica RR (1976) Auditory system: morphology and physiology of the
auditory system. In: R Llinas, W Precht (eds) Frog Neurobiology. Berlin,
Springer-Verlag, pp 551-575