All the Better to Hear You With!

  Nope, we are not reading Little Red Riding Hood today.  The phrase popped into my head while I was doing some yard work around the Frog Pond.  Frogs have ears!  Ok, so we all knew that they could hear.  That is quite obvious seeing how they jump for safety as soon as a twig snaps. BUT!  Do you know HOW they hear?  Have you ever seen a frog with ears?  It rather easy to spot human ears, dog ears, cat ears and cow ears.  You cannot miss rabbit ears, donkey ears, elephant ears and mouse ears.  But where, oh where, are those frog ears?  

  Frog ears are more internal than external.  The only visible part is the Tympanum which sort of relates to our eardrum.  This is a circle of membrane located just behind the eye of the frog.  This membrane does not actually process sound waves but merely transmits them to the inner ear.  There, the sound is processed so the frog can decipher just what danger is approaching or where the nearest buggy breakfast is located. This Tympanum allows the frog to even hear underwater!  The actual ear is internal making it protected from water and being poked by foreign objects.  Another neat thing is that inside the frog's head is a sort of pressure system that allows the frog to adjust its hearing to how loud things are.  The pressure stabilizes to "dull" loud sounds. Even the frog's own voice needs to be buffered.  Being as some frogs' calls can be heard a mile away, the sound would be deafening to any nearby or even the one doing the calling.  Just imagine it sort of like turning down the volume on a hearing aid.   Pretty neat stuff!

  Anyway, now you know that frogs can hear really well without any visible ears.  The next time you see a frog, look for its Tympanum!  It is a round or oval shaped membrane just behind the eye of the frog.  Froggy ears just look different than what we are used to seeing on critters but they can hear really well!