This book takes a comparative approach to the evolution of sensory cells in the auditory systems of vertebrates. The authors follow the adaptation of hearing capabilities in fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, exploring in depth the specific properties of auditory cells that allowed them to become sensitive to sound and capable of analyzing sounds into their respective frequency components.

The evolutionary history of the structure and function of the auditory system is discussed for each vertebrate group. The focus is on the evolution of sensory hair cells

Inhalt
1 An Outline of the Evolution of Vertebrate HearingOrgans.- 2 Environmental Variables and the Fundamental Nature of Hearing.- 3 Evolution of Sensory Hair Cells.- 4 Parallel Evolution in Fish Hearing Organs.- 5 The Evolution of Single- and Multiple-Ossicle Ears in Fishes and Tetrapods.- 6 Evolution of the Amphibian Ear.- 7 The Lizard Basilar Papilla and Its Evolution.- 8 Hearing Organ Evolution and Specialization: Archosaurs.- 9 Hearing Organ Evolution and Specialization: Early and Later Mammals.- 10 The Evolution of Central Pathways and Their Neural Processing Patterns.- 11 Advances and Perspectives in the Study of the Evolution of the Vertebrate Auditory System.- Appendix: Useful Concepts from Circuit Theory.