Can they hear??

[MissT]

I had a discussion ith a reptile store owner a few days ago and was just wondering on some opinions.

He said that 'apparently' reptiles cannot hear sounds but distinguish voices etc through vibrations - he doesnt believe this (due to an experience he had with a snake) but I was just curious as to what others think!

I watched a video once of an iguana which responded to commands - its name, time for a bath, go to your room, go outside etc - and cant understand how it could do those things based entirely on vibrations, especially when there were a number of people carrying out the orders.

So what do you think... can reptiles actually hear sounds?

 

[Judah'sHuman]

I think they do. Judah always responds to his name. Well unless it is the pitch and certain vibration that he is hearing, but I think he can hear. He likes it when i make bird like noises to him, he perks right up when I do this.

 

[Judah'sHuman]

I looked it up in wikipedia, this is what it had to say:

The evolution of mammalian auditory ossicles is one of the most well-documented[1] and important evolutionary events, demonstrating both numerous transitional forms as well as an excellent example of exaptation, the re-purposing of existing structures during evolution.

In reptiles, the eardrum is connected to the inner ear via a single bone, the stapes or stirrup, while the upper and lower jaws contain several bones not found in mammals. Over the course of the evolution of mammals, one lower and one upper jaw bone (the articular and quadrate) lost their purpose in the jaw joint and were put to new use in the middle ear, connecting to the stapes and forming a chain of three bones (collectively called the ossicles) which amplify sounds and allow more acute hearing. In mammals, these three bones are known as the malleus, incus, and stapes (hammer, anvil, and stirrup respectively).

The evidence that the malleus and incus are homologous to the reptilian articular and quadrate was originally embryological, and since this discovery an abundance of transitional fossils has both supported the conclusion and given a detailed history of the transition.[2] The evolution of the stapes was an earlier and distinct event.[3][4]

So if they have and ear drum that is similar to ours then wouldn't they hear sounds and not just vibration. I dont know but I would think so. Why else would they have an ear drum? :dontknow:

 

[MissT]

Ahh why didnt I think to google it - I swear, sometimes my head is on a whole different planet!!! Thanks for that info... I just found this on
anapsid.org

'Most of the lizards for whom data has been collected show that most hear in the same range as does the green iguana (Iguana iguana), whose picks up sounds in the 500-4,000Hz range, with a peak sensitivity at 700 Hz, equal to about 24 dB.'

'In comparison, human hearing is in the range of 20-20,000 Hz, with intensity at roughly 120 dB. The approximate threshold of pain is 130 dB, with a rock concert coming in at 130 dB, and hearing damage occurs at >90 dB Normal conversation is between 60-70 dB The typical background noise in a classroom is 20-30 dB A motorcycle going 5 mph is about 100 dB, busy traffic 70 dB, rustling leaves 20 dB, and a human breathing normally is 10 dB.'

Therefore, I shall conclude that they can indeed hear actual sounds... :|
Unless I am totally misinterpreting this info :?

 

[beardie parents]

I think they can hear and uderstand the difference between sounds. When we would take Redrock outside, I'd take our boom box out side with her to listen to either a story or music or a radio station. She would look at the boom box as if she was listening to it. Miss O and Miss Y would both look at it while it was playing a story, almost as if they were listening to the story. One day before Redrock died, I had the sterio on in our bathroom on a radio station and the sterio in the living room was playing a cd, two different songs. My husband said she looked confused. This was the first time I'd had both of them on with different things playing, usually we play the same station on both of them. I would say, since she was confused, she new the difference between the two songs.

 

[Judah'sHuman]

Yeah I really really think they can. When I take Judah out to run around my room, I offten will leave the room for a moment. I'll coem back in and he'll be under the bed or something, so I'll call him and then he will come out to me, like "here I am." It seems too unlikely that he would just be hearing some sort of vibration and coem out to see what it is, but rather that he knows his name and that he is being called.

 

[MissT]

Actually, now that you mention how Redrock reacted to the radio, Abu is very responsive to music - this past summer, she always lifted her head to listen when 'All Summer Long' was playing on the radio - it became her bath time song and she is much more settled in the bath if it is playing!! I cant imagine that she could distinguish her fav song based totally on the vibrations!