Impedance Matching in Sound Production and Hearing: a Comparative Study
55
typically have thresholds of sensitivity that allow the detection of sounds that are
close to the background noise !~vel in the environment.
5 Conclusion
The special case of sound communication is merely one example of the general
phenomenon of selection for optimization of function that has occurred in animals
(Alexander 1996). Other examples, which have important parallels with sound
communication, include the loading of muscles for maximum efficiency in
locomotion and similar tasks (Alexander 1973). In the context of sound
communication, there is ample evidence that the loudness and species specificity
of sound production and also the sensitivity and frequency selectivity of hearing
are of great biological significance. My aim in this chapter has been to show how
natural selection in different animal groups has Jed to a variety of solutions to the
shared physical problems of impedance matching between the animal and the
medium in which it lives.
Acknowledgments. Grateful thanks to the Austrian Academy of Sciences for their
generous support of this symposium and to Professor F G Barth and his colleagues
for organizing such an interesting programme and inviting me to participate.
References
Alexander RMcN (1973) Muscle performance in locomotion and other strenuous
activities. In: Balis L, Schmidt-Nielsen K, Maddrell S H P (eds) Comparative
Physiology: Locomotion, Respiration, Transport and Blood. North-Holland:
Amsterdam. pp 1-21
Alexander RMcN (1988) Elastic Mechanisms in Animal Movement. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge
Alexander RMcN (1996) Optima for Animals. 2nd edn Princeton University Press,
Princeton, NJ
A utrum H (1963) Anatomy and physiology of sound sensory cells. In: Busnel R-G
(ed) Acoustic Behaviour of Animals. Elsevier, Amsterdam. pp 412-433
Barth FG, Wast! U, Humphrey JAC, Devarakonda R. (1993) Dynamics of
arthopod filiform hairs. II Mechanical properties of spider trichobothria
(Cupiennius salei Keys.). Phil Trans R Soc Lond B. 340: 445-461
Bekesy G von (1960) Experiments in Hearing. McGraw-Hill, New York
Bennet-Clark HC (1970) The mechanism and efficiency of sound production in
mole crickets. J Exp Bioi 52: 619-652
Bennet-Clark HC (1971) Acoustics of insect song. Nature 234: 255-259
Bennet-Clark HC (1987) The tuned singing burrow of mole crickets. J Exp Bioi
128: 383-409
55
typically have thresholds of sensitivity that allow the detection of sounds that are
close to the background noise !~vel in the environment.
5 Conclusion
The special case of sound communication is merely one example of the general
phenomenon of selection for optimization of function that has occurred in animals
(Alexander 1996). Other examples, which have important parallels with sound
communication, include the loading of muscles for maximum efficiency in
locomotion and similar tasks (Alexander 1973). In the context of sound
communication, there is ample evidence that the loudness and species specificity
of sound production and also the sensitivity and frequency selectivity of hearing
are of great biological significance. My aim in this chapter has been to show how
natural selection in different animal groups has Jed to a variety of solutions to the
shared physical problems of impedance matching between the animal and the
medium in which it lives.
Acknowledgments. Grateful thanks to the Austrian Academy of Sciences for their
generous support of this symposium and to Professor F G Barth and his colleagues
for organizing such an interesting programme and inviting me to participate.
References
Alexander RMcN (1973) Muscle performance in locomotion and other strenuous
activities. In: Balis L, Schmidt-Nielsen K, Maddrell S H P (eds) Comparative
Physiology: Locomotion, Respiration, Transport and Blood. North-Holland:
Amsterdam. pp 1-21
Alexander RMcN (1988) Elastic Mechanisms in Animal Movement. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge
Alexander RMcN (1996) Optima for Animals. 2nd edn Princeton University Press,
Princeton, NJ
A utrum H (1963) Anatomy and physiology of sound sensory cells. In: Busnel R-G
(ed) Acoustic Behaviour of Animals. Elsevier, Amsterdam. pp 412-433
Barth FG, Wast! U, Humphrey JAC, Devarakonda R. (1993) Dynamics of
arthopod filiform hairs. II Mechanical properties of spider trichobothria
(Cupiennius salei Keys.). Phil Trans R Soc Lond B. 340: 445-461
Bekesy G von (1960) Experiments in Hearing. McGraw-Hill, New York
Bennet-Clark HC (1970) The mechanism and efficiency of sound production in
mole crickets. J Exp Bioi 52: 619-652
Bennet-Clark HC (1971) Acoustics of insect song. Nature 234: 255-259
Bennet-Clark HC (1987) The tuned singing burrow of mole crickets. J Exp Bioi
128: 383-409