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Specialized functional aspects of the middle ear muscles in the bat,Chilonycteris parnellii

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Summary

  1. 1.

    Middle ear muscle (MEM) activity in awakeChilonycteris p. parnelli was investigated by observing attenuations in cochlear microphonic potentials.

  2. 2.

    The contracted MEMs were found to act as high pass filters that only attenuated the energy in frequencies below 57 kHz. The degree of attenuation was typically equivalent to sound pressure reductions of 20–25 dB.

  3. 3.

    These results show that the MEMs do not attenuate the very loud 60 kHz constant frequency component of the emitted pulse. This, together with data indicative of a sharply tuned auditory system, suggest thatChilonycteris can favorably recieve the 60 kHz constant frequency component of Doppler shifted echoes even during periods of pulse-echo overlap when the MEMs are strongly contracted.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Biology and Anatomy, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

    George Pollak & O. W. Henson Jr.

Authors
  1. George Pollak
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  2. O. W. Henson Jr.
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Additional information

Since the preparation of this report it has been shown thatChilonycteris p. parnellii belongs to the family Mormoopidae and not with the family Phylostomatidae as previously classified. The genusChilonycteris has been eliminated and replaced by the genusPteronotus. Thus,Chilonycteris p. parnellii is now known asPteronotus p. parnellii (Gray) [Smith, J. D., Systematics of the chiropteran family Mormoopidae, Mus. Nat. Hist., Univ. Kansas, Misc. Publ.56 (1972)].

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Pollak, G., Henson, O.W. Specialized functional aspects of the middle ear muscles in the bat,Chilonycteris parnellii . J. Comp. Physiol. 84, 167–174 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00697604

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00697604

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