Flow sensing by pinniped whiskers
Beside their haptic function, vibrissae of harbour seals (Phocidae) and California sea lions (Otariidae) both represent highly sensitive hydrodynamic receptor systems, although their vibrissal hair shafts differ considerably in structure. To quantify the sensory performance of both hair types, isola...
Published in: | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rstb.2011.0155 2024-10-20T14:09:16+00:00 Flow sensing by pinniped whiskers Miersch, L. Hanke, W. Wieskotten, S. Hanke, F. D. Oeffner, J. Leder, A. Brede, M. Witte, M. Dehnhardt, G. 2011 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0155 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rstb.2011.0155 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rstb.2011.0155 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 366, issue 1581, page 3077-3084 ISSN 0962-8436 1471-2970 journal-article 2011 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0155 2024-09-23T04:22:21Z Beside their haptic function, vibrissae of harbour seals (Phocidae) and California sea lions (Otariidae) both represent highly sensitive hydrodynamic receptor systems, although their vibrissal hair shafts differ considerably in structure. To quantify the sensory performance of both hair types, isolated single whiskers were used to measure vortex shedding frequencies produced in the wake of a cylinder immersed in a rotational flow tank. These measurements revealed that both whisker types were able to detect the vortex shedding frequency but differed considerably with respect to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). While the signal detected by sea lion whiskers was substantially corrupted by noise, harbour seal whiskers showed a higher SNR with largely reduced noise. However, further analysis revealed that in sea lion whiskers, each noise signal contained a dominant frequency suggested to function as a characteristic carrier signal. While in harbour seal whiskers the unique surface structure explains its high sensitivity, this more or less steady fundamental frequency might represent the mechanism underlying hydrodynamic reception in the fast swimming sea lion by being modulated in response to hydrodynamic stimuli impinging on the hair. Article in Journal/Newspaper harbour seal The Royal Society Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 366 1581 3077 3084 |
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Open Polar |
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The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Beside their haptic function, vibrissae of harbour seals (Phocidae) and California sea lions (Otariidae) both represent highly sensitive hydrodynamic receptor systems, although their vibrissal hair shafts differ considerably in structure. To quantify the sensory performance of both hair types, isolated single whiskers were used to measure vortex shedding frequencies produced in the wake of a cylinder immersed in a rotational flow tank. These measurements revealed that both whisker types were able to detect the vortex shedding frequency but differed considerably with respect to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). While the signal detected by sea lion whiskers was substantially corrupted by noise, harbour seal whiskers showed a higher SNR with largely reduced noise. However, further analysis revealed that in sea lion whiskers, each noise signal contained a dominant frequency suggested to function as a characteristic carrier signal. While in harbour seal whiskers the unique surface structure explains its high sensitivity, this more or less steady fundamental frequency might represent the mechanism underlying hydrodynamic reception in the fast swimming sea lion by being modulated in response to hydrodynamic stimuli impinging on the hair. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Miersch, L. Hanke, W. Wieskotten, S. Hanke, F. D. Oeffner, J. Leder, A. Brede, M. Witte, M. Dehnhardt, G. |
spellingShingle |
Miersch, L. Hanke, W. Wieskotten, S. Hanke, F. D. Oeffner, J. Leder, A. Brede, M. Witte, M. Dehnhardt, G. Flow sensing by pinniped whiskers |
author_facet |
Miersch, L. Hanke, W. Wieskotten, S. Hanke, F. D. Oeffner, J. Leder, A. Brede, M. Witte, M. Dehnhardt, G. |
author_sort |
Miersch, L. |
title |
Flow sensing by pinniped whiskers |
title_short |
Flow sensing by pinniped whiskers |
title_full |
Flow sensing by pinniped whiskers |
title_fullStr |
Flow sensing by pinniped whiskers |
title_full_unstemmed |
Flow sensing by pinniped whiskers |
title_sort |
flow sensing by pinniped whiskers |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0155 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rstb.2011.0155 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rstb.2011.0155 |
genre |
harbour seal |
genre_facet |
harbour seal |
op_source |
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 366, issue 1581, page 3077-3084 ISSN 0962-8436 1471-2970 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0155 |
container_title |
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
366 |
container_issue |
1581 |
container_start_page |
3077 |
op_container_end_page |
3084 |
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1813448740973838336 |