Re: animal sound localization

[Brian Keith Branstetter <branstet@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for the multiple replies.  The general consensus is that bats and barn owls are good at localizing sounds but I still have not found a concrete example of an animal that can localize as good in the vertical plane as in the horizontal plane (under any stimulus condition, passive hearing or echolocation, or under any experimental paradigm).  

The only paper I personally know of is Renaud and Popper, (1975) where the dolphin’s MAA for click stimuli (peak frequency = 64 kHz) is 0.9 degrees (horizontal plane) and 0.7 degrees (vertical plane).  This is only one study with one animal and has never been replicated and I can’t find a similar example with another animal.  

Curiously, there is pronounce anatomical asymmetry in the heads of most toothed whales (e.g., left-right cranial asymmetry), a feature also found in the barn owl (Tyto Alba), suggesting the dolphin head may be behaving as a position dependant spectral filter (HRTF) for vertical localization.  This idea had been thrown around for a while now so I’m looking for confirmation in other animals (auditory predators) with relatively outstanding vertical localization abilities.  

Thanks again
Brian Branstetter





----- Original Message -----
From: Peter Lennox <P.Lennox@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 7:56 am
Subject: Re: animal sound localization
To: AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

> as a rule of thumb, it might seem plausible that species that have 
> evolved with fredom of movement in 3 dimensions might need better 
> equivalence in acuity in three dimensions, so vertical would be 
> important. Just speculative, though
> regards
> ppl
> 
> Dr. Peter Lennox
> S.P.A.R.G.
> Signal Processing Applications Research Group
> University of Derby
> http://sparg.derby.ac.uk  
> Int. tel: 3155
> >>> Chris Clark <cwc2@xxxxxxxxxxx> 10/31/07 2:07 PM >>>
> Bats!
> owls are passive locators - so be sure you differentiate between 
> these two 
> mechanisms.
> 
> ... and you are asking about scientific examples of such. FYI - 
> There are 
> observations of large whales doing things - like counter-calling 
> over long 
> distances and then joining up - that seem to have an explanation in 
> this 
> domain. Some of these have been scientifically validated by 
> playback 
> experiments, but these are not able to test vertical acuity. Whales 
> also 
> find food resources through either active or passive acoustic 
> localization 
> in 3-space.
> 
> chris
> 
> At 04:38 PM 10/30/2007, D.W. Smith wrote:
> >Tyto alba, the barn owl.
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: AUDITORY - Research in Auditory Perception
> >[mailto:AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Brian Keith 
> Branstetter>Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 4:25 PM
> >To: AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >Subject: animal sound localization
> >
> >Hello.
> >
> >Are there any examples of an animal (besides a dolphin) who can 
> localize>sound sources in the vertical plane with the same (or 
> similar or better)
> >acuity as the horizontal plane?
> >
> >Are there any references to such a finding?
> >
> >Thank you in advance.
> >
> >
> >Brian Branstetter
> >NRC postdoc
> >US Navy marine mammal program
> 
> Dr. Christopher W. Clark, I.P. Johnson Director
> Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
> Senior Scientist, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior
> Cornell University
> 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
> Ithaca, NY 14850
> Phone:607-254-2408
> FAX:607-254-2460
> website:http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp/ 
>