Research could have implications for addressing hearing loss in
humans The frog Huia cavitympanum from Borneo UCLA scientists
report for the first time on the only known frog species that
can communicate using purely ultrasonic calls, whose frequencies
are too high to be heard by humans. Known as Huia cavitympanum,
the frog lives only on the Southeast Asian island of Borneo.
Ultrasounds are high-pitched sounds more than 20 kilohertz (kHz)
in frequency, which exceeds the upper limit of sounds detectable
by humans and is far higher than the 5 to 8 kHz frequencies most
amphibians, reptiles and birds are capable of hearing or
producing. Key parts of the ear must be specially adapted to
detect ultrasounds. The frogs can hear sounds up to 38
kilohertz, the highest frequency any amphibian species has been
known to hear, the scientists report. Humans can hear up to
about 20 kHz and typically talk at 2 or 3 kHz. While most of the
more than 5,000 frog species worldwide have eardrums that are
flat on the side of the hea