| Sex differences in auditory filters of brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater). | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 20559641 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Receiver sensory abilities can be influenced by a number of factors, including habitat, phylogeny and the selective pressure to acquire information about conspecifics or heterospecifics. It has been hypothesized that brood-parasitic brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) females may locate or determine the quality of potential hosts by eavesdropping on their sexual signals. This is expected to produce different sex-specific pressures on the auditory system to detect conspecific and heterospecific acoustic signals. Here, we examined auditory filter shape and efficiency, which influence the ability to resolve spectral and temporal information, in males and females at center frequencies of 2, 3 and 4 kHz. We found that overall, cowbirds had relatively wide filters (lsmean +/- SE: 619.8 +/- 41.6 Hz). Moreover, females had narrower filters (females: 491.4 +/- 66.8, males: 713.8 +/- 67.3 Hz) and greater filter efficiency (females: 59.0 +/- 2.0, males: 69.8 +/- 1.9 dB) than males. Our results suggest that the filters of female cowbirds may allow them to extract spectral information from heterospecific vocalizations. The broader auditory filters of males may reflect limited spectral energy in conspecific vocalizations in this frequency range, and hence, weaker selection for high resolution of frequency in the range of 2-4 kHz. |
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Authors:
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Megan D Gall; Jeffrey R Lucas |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article Date: 2010-06-18 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology Volume: 196 ISSN: 1432-1351 ISO Abbreviation: J. Comp. Physiol. A Neuroethol. Sens. Neural. Behav. Physiol. Publication Date: 2010 Aug |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2010-07-23 Completed Date: 2010-11-12 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 101141792 Medline TA: J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol Country: Germany |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 559-67 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Department of Biological Sciences, Lilly Hall, Purdue University, 915 State St, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. mgall@purdue.edu |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Animals Auditory Perception / physiology* Auditory Threshold / physiology* Behavior, Animal / physiology Evoked Potentials, Auditory / physiology Female Hearing / physiology* Male Passeriformes / physiology* Sex Characteristics* |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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