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Updated: Aug 4, 2026

Selective Tracing of Auditory Fibers in the Avian Embryonic Vestibulocochlear Nerve
Published on: March 18, 2013
Evolution of hearing in vertebrates: the inner ears and processing
1Department of Psychology and Parmly Hearing Institute, Loyola University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60626, USA.
Abstract:
This paper considers aspects of the evolution of the vertebrate auditory system from an 'ichthyocentric' perspective. It is argued that all vertebrate auditory systems are required to do certain basic tasks including acoustic feature discrimination, sound source localization, frequency analysis, and auditory scene analysis, among others. These sorts of capabilities arose very early in the evolution of the vertebrates and have been modified by selection in different species. In some cases the same structures have been involved in detection and analysis throughout the vertebrates, while in other cases the mechanism by which the same type of analysis takes place may have changed.
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