We thought we’d step outside of our usual topics today and talk to you about something fun! This week, we’re here to talk to you about the 10 animals who have the most impressive hearing; some of who, have much better hearing than we do!
Moth
The animal that has been given the title of having the best hearing in the animal kingdom is… the great wax moth. They can hear frequencies of up to 300 kHz. For comparison, our hearing range is between 20 Hz and 20 kHz. This means the moth can hear 15 times higher than the highest pitched sounds that we can hear. The main predator of this moth is the bat and experts believe that moths have developed such fantastic hearing to help evade capture by them.
Bat
Next up we have… the bat! It is widely known that bats have exceptional hearing. Some bats use echolocation while flying; this means they squeak whilst in the air and use the echo to navigate.
Owl
Next up is an animal who is also well known for it’s great hearing – the owl. As owls are nocturnal, they have to rely on their hearing alongside their good sight. Owls have such good hearing due to the asymmetrical placement of their ears. One ear will be slightly further forward with the other a little higher. This placement allows the owl to pinpoint exactly where a sound is coming from.
Elephant
The next animal we need to discuss is the elephant. They do have great hearing but it is not only that which has led this animal to make our list. They use their large thin ears to help regulate their body temperature and keep cool for longer!
Dog
We’ve discussed before that man’s best friends has great hearing. Dogs hearing is very sensitive and they can hear frequencies above what we can. Ever wondered how your dog always seems to be at the front door by the time you’re through it? Most probably they heard you return home before you even opened the door!
Cat
Cats have great hearing too thanks to the extra muscles they have in their ears. We have three muscles and three bones in each ear, whereas cats have around 36 muscles in each ear. These additional muscles allow them to rotate their ears 180 degrees.
Horse
There are 2 reasons why we’ve included horses on our list. The first is that when there is a herd of horses, there will also be at least one horse who is the lookout and will warn the others of any potential dangers. This horse’s hearing is obviously essential to this role as they will need to detect any sounds and determine the direction they came from. The second reason is that horses also use their ears to communicate their mood to those around them!
Dolphin
You may remember that we discussed echolocation at the beginning of this blog; another animal that uses this technique is the dolphin. Much like the bat, a dolphin will emit a squeak that will bounce off the surface and back to the dolphin’s lower jaw. This allows the dolphin to avoid danger, but also to hunt effectively.
Rat
Rats have ears that are very close together meaning they find it easy to pinpoint the exact location of where a sound is coming from. Rats can also hear frequencies which are much too high for us to hear.
Pigeon
In direct opposition to this, pigeons can hear sounds that are a lot lower than a human can. On average, a pigeon can hear sounds as low as 0.5 Hz meaning they can detect distant storms, earthquakes and even volcanoes!! Due to this amazing ability, pigeons are often considered to be the best navigators in the animal kingdom.
Just a few fun facts for you to digest this week but, as always, if you do need any advice regarding your hearing please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
