The Animal Audiogram Database: A community-based resource for consolidated audiogram data and metadata

Area of Science:

• Bioacoustics
• Wildlife acoustics
• Auditory science

Background:

• Animal hearing data (audiograms) are crucial for understanding environmental acoustics, anthropogenic noise impacts, and wildlife management.
• Existing audiogram data are fragmented across publications in inconsistent formats, hindering accessibility and integration.
• A unified, accessible repository for audiogram data is needed to advance auditory research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create a centralized, standardized database of published animal audiogram data.
• To facilitate access, comparison, and integration of audiometric information for diverse research applications.
• To provide a free, open-access resource for the scientific community.

Main Methods:

• Extensive literature surveys to identify and extract audiogram data.
• Manual curation and standardization of audiometric data and associated metadata.
• Development of a database interface with community input for data comparison and download.

Main Results:

• The Animal Audiogram Database (as of Nov 1, 2021) contains 306 audiogram datasets from 34 species.
• Data are presented in a consistent format with metadata and links to original publications.
• Features for comparing audiograms and downloading data in structured formats are available.

Conclusions:

• The database provides a valuable, standardized resource for animal bioacoustics research.
• It addresses the challenge of fragmented and heterogeneous audiogram data.
• The resource is designed for community-driven expansion to include broader taxonomic groups and habitats.