Which animal has the widest hearing range?

Answer 1

The boring answer is that any creature lacking a sense of hearing has the smallest hearing range, as its range would be zero. People often mention snakes, as snakes have no ears, but hold that thought, just for a moment.

A more interesting answer appears when you think about what it really means to hear. We usually think of hearing as that which ears do. But what do ears really do? All they do is funnel sound into the auditory canal toward the eardrum. Is that really hearing? Not at all, or at least not all by itself.

What happens after sound is sent to the eardrum? A complicated mechanism converts sound into nerve impulses that the brain can then interpret. It seems more correct to describe thisprocess as hearing, rather than the simple funneling that ears do. And we wouldn't want to say that an animal lacking ears also lacks hearing: snakes indeed lack external ears, but they do have an internal hearing mechanism similar to that of reptiles that have external ears. This internal mechanism is frequently known as the inner ear. Strange that a snake would have an inner ear but have no way to channel vibrations to it. Hold that thought.

Ears and their machinery are not the only organs that can detect vibrations. If you've ever listened to really loud music, you'll know that you can feel it with your skin. Is the skin a hearing organ? Not technically, but it can serve the same function that your ears serve, just in a much more limited way. Skin can pick up only lower frequencies, at much higher volume.

Are there other ways of hearing? Consider snakes again. They "hear" not only by sensing vibrations with their skin as do humans. Snakes actually have dedicated vibration detectors in their skin that direct nerve impulses to the inner ear. Thus a snake can actually listen to your normal conversation via its skin, in exactly the same way that you can listen to a conversation with your ears. Snake owners who sense that their snakes know their names are probably right, as a snake can hear its name being spoken.

Dolphins have yet another kind of hearing. They do have ear openings, just behind each eye, but most of the sound that a dolphin hears is transmitted to the inner ear via a fat-filled cavity in the lower jaw.

One study of some 30 different animal species (see the related links for this question) suggests that tuna are among the worst hearers among animals that actually have a dedicated hearing mechanism: their frequency response range is some 50 - 1100Hz. For comparison, human frequency response range is approximately 64 - 23000Hz. A typical pop song on the radio might have a primary frequency range of 50 - 2000Hz, with some of the more subtle nuances of the music going well above that range. Sadly, your pet tuna would not be able to enjoy Lady Gaga with you.

Answer 2

Whale

Answer 3

A bull

Answer 4

A dog.