Perhaps the question could be reframed as, "What are the evolutionary advantages of perceiving wavelengths of 1.5 to 4 cm, over not perceiving these wavelengths?" I would imagine that the upper limit of human hearing was developed well in advance of having to distinguish "zoo" from "sue".
In my mind's eye [sic], I see wavelength more so than frequency in sound transmission / perception.
Kevin
On 2011, Feb 2, at 2:14 PM, Piotr Majdak wrote:
Dear list,
thank you all for
the many responses. Below I try to sort and summarize the
information:
Reasons why extended (>8 kHz) high-frequency
hearing may be important (besides sound localization!) :
Piotr Majdak wrote:
Dear list,
I'm looking for the reasons for the good high-frequency* hearing in
humans.
The reasons I have until now are actually the obvious ones:
* Pinna localization cues
* Interaural level cues (ILD, they actually start to work from around 2
kHz)
What do you think: if there were no need for the ILD and pinna cues,
would there be any other reasons?
Thanks,
Piotr
*) say, above 8 kHz
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