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Rodent Bioacoustics

  • Provides a comprehensive summary of all things bioacoustics in rodents
  • Includes field research and highlights the bioacoustics of many species of wild rodents in their natural environments
  • Covers research on less popular rodent species and provides the basis for a broader understanding of these rodents

Part of the book series: Springer Handbook of Auditory Research (SHAR, volume 67)

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xviii
  2. An Introduction to Rodent Bioacoustics

    • Micheal L. Dent
    Pages 1-11
  3. Three Decades of Subterranean Acoustic Communication Studies

    • Cristian Schleich, Gabriel Francescoli
    Pages 43-69
  4. Hearing in Rodents

    • Micheal L. Dent, Laurel A. Screven, Anastasiya Kobrina
    Pages 71-105
  5. Rodent Sound Localization and Spatial Hearing

    • Amanda M. Lauer, James H. Engel, Katrina Schrode
    Pages 107-130
  6. Anatomy of Vocal Communication and Hearing in Rodents

    • M. Fabiana Kubke, J. Martin Wild
    Pages 131-164
  7. State and Context in Vocal Communication of Rodents

    • Laura M. Hurley, Matina C. Kalcounis-Rueppell
    Pages 191-221

About this book

By far, the most widely used subjects in psychological and biological research today are rodents. Although rats and mice comprise the largest group of animals used in research, there are over 2,000 species and 27 families of rodents, living all over the world (except Antarctica) and thriving in many different habitat types. The vast environmental diversity that rodents face has led to numerous adaptations for communication, including vocalizing and hearing in both the sonic and ultrasonic ranges, effectively communicating in the open air and underground, and using vocalizations for coordinating sexual behavior, for mother-pup interactions, and for signaling an alarming situation to the group.  Some rodent species have even developed foot drumming behaviors for communication. Comparative studies from around the globe, using both field and laboratory methodologies, reveal the vast differences in acoustic communication behavior across many rodent species. 

Some rodents are amenable to training and have been domesticated and bred purely for research purposes. Since the early 1900s, rats and mice have been indispensable to research programs around the world. Thus, much of what we know about hearing and vocalizations in rodents come from these two species tested in the laboratory. The sequencing of the mouse genome in 2002, followed by the rat genome in 2004, only increased the utility of these animals as research subjects since genetically engineered strains mimicking human diseases and disorders could be developed more easily. In the laboratory, rats and mice are used as models for human communication and hearing disorders and are involved in studies on hearing loss and prevention, hormones, and auditory plasticity, to name a few. We know that certain strains of mice retain hearing better than others throughout their lifespan, and about the genes involved in those differences. We know about the effects of noise, hormones, sex, aging, and circadian rhythms on hearing in mice and other rodents. We also know about normal hearing in many families of rodents, including the perception of simple and complex stimuli and the anatomy and physiology of hearing and sound localization.


The importance of acoustic communication to these animals, as well as the significance of these mammals to biomedical research, are summarized in the chapters. 

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, USA

    Micheal L. Dent

  • Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, USA

    Richard R. Fay

  • Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, USA

    Arthur N. Popper

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Rodent Bioacoustics

  • Editors: Micheal L. Dent, Richard R. Fay, Arthur N. Popper

  • Series Title: Springer Handbook of Auditory Research

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92495-3

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life Sciences, Biomedical and Life Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-92494-6Published: 07 September 2018

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-06444-0Published: 21 December 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-92495-3Published: 28 August 2018

  • Series ISSN: 0947-2657

  • Series E-ISSN: 2197-1897

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVIII, 221

  • Number of Illustrations: 17 b/w illustrations, 28 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Neurosciences, Otorhinolaryngology

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access