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{{Short description|Animal perception of low frequency sounds}}
'''[[Infrasound]]''' is
{{Ethology}}▼
▲'''[[Infrasound]]''' is an anthropocentric term that refers to sounds containing some or all energy at frequencies lower than the low frequency end of human hearing threshold at 20 Hz. It is known, however, that humans can perceive sounds below this frequency at very high pressure levels.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Yeowart|first=N. S.|coauthors=M. J. Evans|title=Thresholds of audibility for very low-frequency pure tones|journal=J Acoust Soc Am|year=1974|volume=55|pages=814–818}}</ref> Infrasound can come from many natural as well as man-made sources, including weather patterns, topographic features, ocean wave activity, thunderstorms, [[magnetic storms]], earthquakes, [[jet streams]], mountain ranges, and rocket launchings.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cook|first=R. K.|title=Atmospheric sound propagation|journal=Atmospheric exploration by remote probes|year=1969|volume=2|pages=633–669}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Procunier|first=R. W.|title=Observations of acoustic aurora in the 1-16 Hz range|journal=Geophys. J. R. Astron. Soc.|year=1971|volume=26|pages=183–189}}</ref> Infrasounds are also present in the vocalizations of some animals. Low frequency sounds can travel for long distances with very little attenuation and can be detected hundreds of miles away from their sources.<ref name="Kreithen & Quine 1979">{{cite journal|last=Kreithen|first=M. L.|coauthors=D. B. Quine|title=Infrasound detection by the homing pigeon: A behavioral audiogram|journal=Journal of Physiology A|year=1979|issue=129|pages=1–4}}</ref><ref name="Langbauer et al 1990">{{cite journal|last=Langbauer|first=W. R.|coauthors=K. B. Payne, R. A. Charif, E. M. Thomas|title=Responses of captive African elephants to playback of low-frequency calls|journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology|year=1990|issue=67|pages=2604–2607}}</ref>
== Mammals ==
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=== Elephants ===
Elephants are the terrestrial animal in which the production of infrasonic calls was first noted by M. Krishnan,<ref name="Krishnan 1972">{{cite journal |last=Krishnan |first=M |title=An Ecological Survey of the Larger Mammals of Peninsular India |year=1972 |journal=The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=69 |pages=26–54}}</ref> later discovered by Katy Payne.<ref>{{cite book |last=Payne |first=Katy |title=Silent Thunder: In the presence of Elephants |url=https://archive.org/details/silentthunderinp00payn |url-access=registration |year=1998 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |___location=New York|isbn=9780684801087 }}</ref> The use of low frequency sounds to communicate over long distances may explain certain elephant behaviors that have previously puzzled observers. Elephant groups that are separated by several kilometers have been observed to travel in parallel or to change the direction simultaneously and move directly towards each other in order to meet.<ref name="Langbauer et al 1991">{{cite journal |last=Langbauer |first=W. R. |
==== Infrasound production and perception ====
Recordings and playback experiments support that elephants use the infrasonic components of their calls for communication. Infrasonic vocalizations have been recorded from captive elephants in many different situations. The structure of the calls varies greatly but most of them range in frequency from 14 to 24 Hz, with durations of 10–15 seconds. When the nearest elephant is 5 m from the microphone, the recorded sound pressure levels can be 85 to 90
Playback experiments using prerecorded elephant vocalizations show that elephants can perceive infrasound and how they respond to these stimuli. In playback experiments, certain behaviors that occur commonly after vocalizations are scored before and after a call is played. These behaviors include lifting and stiffening of ears, vocalization, walking or running towards the concealed speaker, clustering in a tight group, and remaining motionless ("freezing"), with occasional scanning movements of the head.<ref name="Langbauer et al 1990" /> The occurrence of such behaviors consistently increases after the playing of a call, whether it is a full-bandwidth playback or a playback in which most of the energy above 25 Hz was filtered out. This filtering shows that the behaviorally significant information of the call is contained in the infrasonic range, and it also simulates the effect of frequency-dependent attenuation over distance as it might occur in the wild.<ref name="Langbauer et al 1990" /> Behavioral responses do not increase for pure tone stimuli that are similar to recorded infrasonic calls in frequency and intensity. This shows that the responses are specifically to signals that were meaningful to the elephants.<ref name="Langbauer et al 1990" />
The use of prerecorded playbacks and behavioral scoring also shows that the infrasonic elephant calls are behaviorally significant over long distances. The degree of response behaviors performed by an elephant group, such as lifting of ears, walking towards the speakers, “freezing”, or scanning movements, was compared visually before and after the presentation of a stimulus, scoring a trial as a positive response if the amount of behaviors is greater after the stimulus. In one particular experiment performed on elephants living in the wild, the presentation of playbacks for 20–40 seconds from loudspeakers at distances of 1.2 km and 2 km caused a significant increase in response behaviors.<ref name="Langbauer et al 1991" /> Since the playbacks were done at half the amplitude at which they were recorded, it is estimated that these calls would be perceptible by elephants at distances of at least 4 km<ref name="Langbauer et al 1991" /> Even this may be an underestimate because animals do not respond every time they perceive a conspecific call, and they are probably less likely to respond to calls from further distances even if they do perceive them.<ref name="Langbauer et al 1991" />
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==== Infrasound sensitivity ====
The auditory sensitivity thresholds have been measured behaviorally for one individual young female Indian elephant. The [[Classical conditioning|conditioning]] test for sensitivity requires the elephant to respond to a stimulus by pressing a button with its trunk, which results in a sugar water reward if the elephant correctly identified the appropriate stimulus occurrence.<ref name="Heffner & Heffner 1980">{{cite journal |last=Heffner |first=H. |
The ability to differentiate frequencies of two successive tones was also tested for this elephant using a similar conditioning paradigm. The
Tests of the ability to localize sounds also showed the significance of low frequency sound perception in elephants. Localization was tested by observing the successful orienting towards the left or the right source loudspeakers when they were positioned at different angles from the
== Birds ==
Although birds do not produce vocalizations in the infrasonic range, reactions to infrasonic stimuli have been observed in several species, such as the [[homing pigeon]], the
=== Pigeons ===
Infrasound perception has been observed and quantified in the homing pigeon which has particularly good long distance navigation skills. The precise relevance of such signals for the pigeon is still unknown, but several uses for infrasound have been hypothesized, such as navigation and detection of air turbulences when flying and landing.<ref name="Kreithen & Quine 1979" /><ref>{{cite journal |last=Griffin |first=D. R. |title=The physiology and geophysics of bird navigation |journal=Q Rev Biol |year=1969 |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=255–276 |doi=10.1086/406142|s2cid=84512252 }}</ref><ref name="Schermuly 1990a">{{cite journal |last=Schermuly |first=L. |
==== Infrasound sensitivity ====
In experiments
In order to use infrasound for navigation, it is necessary to be able to localize the source of the sounds. The known mechanisms for sound localizations make use of the time difference cues at the two ears. However, infrasound has such long wavelengths that these mechanisms would not be effective for an animal the size of a pigeon. An alternative method that has been hypothesized is through the use of the [[Doppler shift]].<ref name="Quine 1981" /> A Doppler shift occurs when there is relative motion between a sound source and a perceiver and slightly shifts the perceived frequency of the sound. When a flying bird is changing direction, the amplitude of the Doppler shift between it and an infrasonic source would change, enabling the bird to locate the source. This kind of mechanism would require the ability to detect very small changes in frequency. A pigeon typically flies at 20 km/
In early experiments with infrasound sensitivity in pigeons, surgical removal of the
==== Infrasound
Neural fibers that are sensitive to infrasonic stimuli have been identified in the pigeon and their characteristics have been studied. It turns out that, although these fibers also originate in the inner ear, they are quite different from normal acoustic fibers.
Infrasound sensitive fibers have very high rates of spontaneous discharge, with a mean of
By injecting fibers that were identified to be sensitive to infrasound with HRP (Horseradish Peroxidase), the ___location and morphology of the stained fibers can be observed in sections under a microscope. Infrasound sensitive fibers are found to be simple bipolar cells in the [[auditory ganglion]] with a diameter of {{nowrap|1.6
== References ==
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== Further reading ==
*Cook, R.K. (1969) Atmospheric sound propagation.
*{{cite journal | last1 = Delius | first1 = JD
*Griffin DR (1969) The physiology and geophysics of bird navigation. ''Q Rev Biol'' 44:255~76
*{{cite journal | last1 = Heffner
*{{cite journal | last1 = Kreithen
*{{cite journal | last1 = Langbauer
*{{cite journal | last1 = Langbauer
*{{cite journal | last1 = Moss | first1 = R
*Payne, Katy. Silent Thunder: In the presence of Elephants. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998
*{{cite journal | last1 = Payne
*{{cite journal | last1 = Quine
*{{cite journal | last1 = Schermuly
*{{cite journal | last1 = Schermuly | first1 = L.
*{{cite journal | last1 = Theurich | first1 = M
*{{cite journal | last1 = Yeowart | first1 = NS
*{{cite journal | last1 = Yodlowski | first1 = ML
▲{{Ethology}}
[[Category:Animal communication]]
[[Category:Behavioral neuroscience]]
[[Category:Ethology]]
[[Category:Hearing]]
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