Abstract
The developmental investigation of sound transmitting apparatus is important in understanding the ontogenetic processes behind morphological diversity. The development of sound conducting apparatus was studied in Montpellier snake; Malpolon monspessulanus at 6.5, 7.2, 8.3 and 9.3 cm total body lengths using light microscopy study. The columella auris firstly appeared as undifferentiated rod shape mesenchymal cells. As the growth proceeded, it chondrified and differentiates into two main parts. In addition, the viscerocranium components which participate in formation of sound transmitting apparatus undergo critical organization. In more advanced stages, procartilagenous stylohyal chondrified and fuse with the well organized quadrate. These data considered as a base for functional and molecular mechanisms of sound transmitting apparatus studies and identification of diseases that may infect them.
Highlights
The tympanic middle ear provides impedance matching between the air and inner ear fluids and enhances pressure hearing in air
Biol., 2018, vol 78, no. 4, pp. 755-762 hear. This presumption is supported by the fact that snakes have neither tympanum nor eustachian tube, and the stapes whose proximal end rests in the vestibular window and its distal end attached to the quadrate bone on which the lower jaw swings (Young, 2003; Friedel et al, 2008; Scanferla and Bhullar, 2014; Dowling, 2015) and that scientific evidence of snakes responding to sound is rare
The columella auris of Malpolon monsspesulanus firstly appears as rod-shaped, undifferentiated mesenchymatous cells (Figures 1, 2, C.A). It appears separated from the boundaries of the auditory capsule (A.C), but both of them are very close to each other
Summary
The tympanic middle ear provides impedance matching between the air and inner ear fluids and enhances pressure hearing in air. The evolution of the middle ear components have played an important role in solving this problem of impedance mismatch in the evolutionary transition from aquatic habitat to land (Christensen et al, 2012). The importance of middle ear in hearing process both of Christensen et al (2015) and Christian et al (2015) reported that, the terrestrial adult salamanders, the fully aquatic juvenile salamanders and even lung fish which are completely not adapted to aerial hearing were able to detect air borne sound without having a tympanic middle ear. Possess an inner ear with a functional cochlea and with poorly developing middle ear components. The vibrations from the prey footsteps pass underneath both sides of the jaw travel through the snake’s head through two bones – the quadrate and stapes – and stimulate the cochlea
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