ISSN:
0362-2525
Keywords:
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
Observations on inner ear structure were made in five species of Scincidae, together with measurements of auditory sensitivity in terms of cochlear potentials. The basilar membrane and auditory papilla show a characteristic form, with considerable uniformity in dimensions except for a moderate expansion in the dorsal region and a more prominent one at the ventral end.A characteristic feature is the presence of a tectorial membrane that covers a large part of the surface of the medial limbus, but never leaves this surface and thus fails to make any contact with the auditory papilla. Hair-cell stimulation is achieved entirely through operation of the inertia principle (or equivalent principles) by means of a chain of sallets extending along most of the cochlea but giving way in the region of the ventral expansion to a single large body, the culmen papillae.The sensitivity varies in the five skinks studied from better than average to some-what below average in comparison with other lizard species. Thus an inertial (or inertia-like) system of hair-cell stimulation compares favorably with the tectorial membrane (restraint) system exhibited in the ears of most other lizards and all the higher animals.
Additional Material:
14 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jmor.1051320304
