Humans may be king of the animal world when it comes to evolution, but we are flailing down the hearing ranks. Although our hearing isn’t as sensitive as some of these guys below (ours is a limited 2-5 KHz) – the way our brain processes vibrations into sound that then does amazing things to our memory and processing banks, evoking emotions is nothing less than magical. But, how does it all work? For more information on how humans hear check out www.hiddenhearing.co.uk.
However, let’s not take away the glory from these hearing heavyweights, here’s the top ten 10 animals with amazing hearing:
1. The Greater Wax Moth
This little guy has the hearing crown, with a hearing frequency of up to 300 KHz, it can hear 150 times more than us and can even hear 100hz above a bat (but as the bat is its number one predator it’s going to need to outwit it somehow). Dr Hannah Moir, told the Daily Mail: “Many species of moth have evolved ultrasound-sensitive ears owing to the predation pressure of echo-locating bats – this system is one of the best known examples of an evolutionary ‘arms-race’ between predator and prey.”
2. Elephants
There’s no surprise really, with ears that big, that the elephant is going to be in the top 10! Their hearing frequency is somewhere in between 16-12KHz which is a huge range and they can hear at a frequency 20 times lower than us.
3. Bats
Bats come second only to the moth. They use a biological sonar system called echolocation to find their way around in the pitch black. Their frequency level is around 212KHz.
4. Dolphins
Like bats, dolphins use echolocation – waiting for sound to bounce back – so it’s like seeing with sound. Their frequency range is 75-150KHz
5. Cats
Cats have a good frequency range – at 45-64 KHz it’s far better than ours, so there’s no point trying to sneak up on your cat!
6. Dogs
A dog’s hearing is similar to a cat, they hear better at a higher pitch and can even differentiate between their owners footsteps and strangers. People report that their dogs know they are coming home before they get there.
7. Owl
An owl’s frequency range is between 200 – 12KHz, and with their excellent eyesight and a head that can nearly turn 360 degrees you really don’t want to be its potential prey!
8. Rat
Our friendly rodent has a better hearing range than the cat, which is just as well for them. At 200-76 kHz they can hear an incy wincy spider coming down the drain pipe.
9. Horse
Horses need to hear well as they have many predators in the wild – they are a flight animal and rely heavily on their hearing, which is much better than their sight. Their frequency range is 55-33KHz. They can move their ears in the direction of the sound.
10. Pigeons
Pigeons have an incredibly low hearing frequency, something like 0.5 Hz! This helps them to hear sound over long distance and to detect storms and helps them to navigate over long distances. According to OneKind they are only one of four animals that can recognise themselves in a mirror which was worth a mention in itself!