Catology: The Weird and Wonderful Science of Cats by Stefan Gates

Author:Stefan Gates [Gates, Stefan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hardie Grant Publishing
Published: 2021-08-26T00:00:00+00:00

6.04 How good is your cat’s hearing?

Cats’ other superpower (along with their sight) is hearing. Not only can they detect a wider range of frequencies than almost any mammal*, they can also accurately detect where a sound is coming from thanks to their independently swivelling ear flaps, known as pinnae.

Cats can hear sounds of a much higher pitch than humans – 64,000Hz (64kHz) compared with 20,000Hz (20kHz), about two octaves higher. This is particularly useful for locating mice, cats’ favourite little snacks and/or playthings. Mice and other rodents use high-pitched ultrasonic squeaks to communicate, which cats can not only detect but can even use to distinguish between different types of rodent. Cats also have good sensitivity to lower notes, comparable to ours at around 20Hz. Most mammals’ hearing focuses on one area of the scale but cats have a particularly large resonating chamber behind their eardrums that is divided into two interconnecting compartments, which increases their range.

Cats’ pinnae can swivel 180° and are excellent hunting and climbing aids. They enable them to analyze sound in three dimensions and detect the source of noises made 1m (3ft) away to an accuracy of 8cm (3in). To do this, cats’ brains evaluate the subtle differences between the sounds from their two ears in several ways. They judge lower-pitched sounds by the difference in synchronization (sound waves from a source hit one ear fractionally earlier than the other), and higher-pitched sounds by the difference in clarity (a sound will be slightly more muffled in the ear furthest from the source than in the other).

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.