Comparative hearing research has historically focused on diverse organisms’ solutions to sensory problems such as localizing sounds in space, responding to conspecific vocalizations, and using sound for navigation and prey capture. These studies have advanced the bioacoustics and auditory neuroscience fields for many decades, despite decreasing funding for comparative auditory research whose primary intent is not to model human communication disorders. However, animals from across many taxa can experience hearing loss, and to varying degrees, recover their hearing abilities after exposure to damaging events. The genetic diversity of these animals, species-specific variations in evolved protective mechanisms, the rich repertoire of acoustic behaviors, and differences in the capacity for self-repair present important opportunities for discovery of the fundamental mechanisms of normal and disordered hearing. No one species best models humans. It is critical that we support and promote analysis of the physiological, anatomical, and behavioral manifestations of hearing loss using a comparative approach. This presentation will highlight some of the opportunities and challenges in working with diverse species as models of hearing dysfunction.