Dr. Matthew Mason: Further Information...
University Physiologist Tel: +44 (0)1223 333829, Fax: +44 (0)1223 333840, E-mail: mjm68@cam.ac.uk
Mason, M.J. (2004a) Functional morphology of the middle ear in Chlorotalpa golden moles (Mammalia, Chrysochloridae): predictions from three models. Journal of Morphology 261: 162-174.
Chlorotalpa is a genus of golden moles about which little is known. In this paper, I describe the middle ear structures of Chlorotalpa duthieae, C. sclateri and C. arendsi (also known as Carpitalpa arendsi). The ear ossicles of these species are all very similar, and of a size intermediate between the small ossicles of e.g. Amblysomus species, and the greatly hypertrophied ossicles of e.g. Chrysochloris or Eremitalpa (as described in Mason, 2003a). Measurements from the middle ears of the Chlorotalpa golden moles were – cautiously – applied into the Dallos (1973) model of impedance matching, the Hemilä et al. (1995) model which predicts high-frequency hearing limit, and the Bárány (1938) model of inertial bone conduction. The models suggest that the middle ears of these species are capable of transmitting airborne sound with reasonable efficiency, but that sound transmission may be limited to relatively low frequencies. This restriction in frequency range might be the price that the animals pay for an improvement in the transmission of vibrations by bone conduction, relative to an ancestral middle ear morphology. The evolution of the middle ear within the Chlorotalpa genus, and among golden moles in general, is discussed.
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