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Cochlear labyrinth volume in euarchontoglirans: implications for the evolution of hearing in primates
Stephanie D Armstrong1, Jonathan I Bloch, Peter Houde
1Department of Anthropology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Abstract:
Using high resolution X-ray computed tomography data we examined the relationship between cochlear labyrinth volume and body mass in extant, non-primate euarchontoglirans, and in two fossils, to allow for comparison with the results of Kirk and Gosselin-Ildari (2009). Modern primates have significantly higher cochlear labyrinth volumes relative to body mass than other euarchontoglirans, which may be related to a downward shift in the highest and lowest audible frequencies over the course of primate evolution, and to the relative increase in brain size observed in Euprimates.
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