Tiny Frog Listens With Its Mouth
Gardiner's Seychelles Frog comes in at 11 millimeters
Scientists had thought that the Gardiner's Seychelles frog—at 11 millimeters among the tiniest in the world—was deaf because it doesn't have a middle ear, a critical component of hearing that's found most land animals.
The middle ear contains three small bones called ossicles that connect the eardrum to the inner ear. When a sound wave hits the eardrum, it moves back and forth, causing the ossicles to move and send electric signals to the brain, which then registers the signals as sound. (See "World's Loudest Animals—'Power Saw' Cricket, More.")
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?