Additional row of outer hair cells – The unique pattern of the Corti organ in a subterranean rodent, the Gansu zokor (Eospalax cansus)

Publication date: January 2019Source: Mammalian Biology, Volume 94Author(s): Lucie Pleštilová, Ema Hrouzková, Hynek Burda, Limin Hua, Radim ŠumberaAbstractAcoustic conditions in burrows are different from those aboveground and restrict hearing of subterranean mammals to low frequencies, which is reflected in the ear morphology. While low-frequency adaptations of the middle ear attracted more attention of researches, the inner ear remained rather understudied. Here, we examined the cochlea of the inner ear of the Gansu zokor (Eospalax cansus), a subterranean rodent from the Tibetan Plateau. We focused on the quantitative parameters of the organ of Corti, which are assumed to determine hearing sensitivity and frequency tuning. Apart from the morphological traits common to the ear of subt...

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