Friday, March 21, 2008

Moose antlers help hearing

The big antler racks of moose may help males amplify sounds to better locate females:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/mar/21/medicalresearch.animalbehaviour

Researchers used a set of Alaskan moose antlers, and placed a prop ear and a microphone between them, and measured the sound reaching the microphone with and without the antlers. With the antlers, head-on sound was amplified by 19%, but when the antlers were turned away from the sound, it was decreased by 21%, suggesting that they help in direction finding, just like how our external ears (auricles) are directed towards our front.

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