The Mystery of the Earless Toads
Thursday, January 5, 2017 - 02:03
in Paleontology & Archaeology
More than 200 species of "true toads" (Bufonidae) have fully functional inner ears, but cannot fully use them because they have lost their tympanic middle ears, the part of the ear which transmits sound air pressures from the outside world to the inner ear. These "earless" toads rely on sounds to communicate, so why would they lose a sense that is key to their survival and reproduction? "Losing an ear seems pretty maladaptive and we want to know why it's happening so much," explains Dr. Molly Womack, a researcher in Dr. Kim Hoke's laboratory at Colorado State University.