Weird tiny frog hears through its mouth

The Gardiner frogs, tiny frogs from Republic of Seychelles, an island nation in northeastern Madagascar, using their mouth to hear. Based on the French National Center for Scientific Research recent study, it happens because the Gardiner frog does not have middle ear and conventional eardrum to hear sounds like the other frogs.

Photo of a male gardiner's frog (S. gardineri) taken in its natural habitat of the Seychelles Islands. (Picture from: http://www.livescience.com/)

But that does not mean the Gardiner frog was deaf. Instead, a tiny brown frog and has a human fingernail size using the oral cavity to capture sound waves from their surrounding environment. "This frog can create their own songs and hear the call of other frogs," said study leader, Renaud Boistel, in Paris, France.

The Gardiner's frog is one 
of the world's smallest.
 (Picture from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/)

As quoted from LiveScience on Tuesday, September 3, 2013, Gardiner frog species Gardiner frog species are one of the smallest known types of frogs in the world. Their unique hearing ability which make the scientists interested to study these amphibians.

In the research, Boistel and his team used X-ray imaging to peek inside the frog head. They found the Gardiner frog use their mouth to amplify the sound that crept into the inner ear through the connective tissue.

Boistel said most four-legged animals have a middle ear that contains the hearing bone, including frogs. The bones are so small that functioned to captures vibrations from the eardrum and transmit sound waves and air into the fluid-filled cochlea so that it can be heard.

"There is a croaker frog species like other frog species. Fact, the frog does not have a middle ear to listen to each other.'s Time to raise the question," said Boistel. This finding means that the mystery has been solved. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | LIVESCIENCE | MAHARDIKA SATRIA HADI | KORAN TEMPO 4335]

Note: This blog can be accessed via your smart phone.