Analytical model of internally coupled ears

Abstract

Lizards and many birds possess a specialized hearing mechanism: internally coupled ears where the tympanic membranes connect through a large mouth cavity so that the vibrations of the tympanic membranes influence each other. This coupling enhances the phase differences and creates amplitude differences in the tympanic membrane vibrations. Both cues show strong directionality. The work presented herein sets out the derivation of a three dimensional analytical model of internally coupled ears that allows for calculation of a complete vibration profile of the membranes. The analytical model additionally provides the opportunity to incorporate the effect of the asymmetrically attached columella, which leads to the activation of higher membrane vibration modes. Incorporating this effect, the analytical model can explain measurements taken from the tympanic membrane of a living lizard, for example, data demonstrating an asymmetrical spatial pattern of membrane vibration. As the analytical calculations show, the internally coupled ears increase the directional response, appearing in large directional internal amplitude differences (iAD) and in large internal time differences (iTD). Numerical simulations of the eigenfunctions in an exemplary, realistically reconstructed mouth cavity further estimate the effects of its complex geometry.