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...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:3172597 2023-05-15T16:33:35+02:00 Flow sensing by pinniped whiskers Miersch, L. Hanke, W. Wieskotten, S. Hanke, F. D. Oeffner, J. Leder, A. Brede, M. Witte, M. Dehnhardt, G. 2011-11-12 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3172597 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21969689 https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0155 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3172597 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21969689 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0155 This journal is © 2011 The Royal Society Articles Text 2011 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0155 2013-09-03T19:45:26Z 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. Text harbour seal PubMed Central (PMC) Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 366 1581 3077 3084 |
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Articles Miersch, L. Hanke, W. Wieskotten, S. Hanke, F. D. Oeffner, J. Leder, A. Brede, M. Witte, M. Dehnhardt, G. Flow sensing by pinniped whiskers |
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Articles |
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 |
Text |
author |
Miersch, L. Hanke, W. Wieskotten, S. Hanke, F. D. Oeffner, J. Leder, A. Brede, M. Witte, M. Dehnhardt, G. |
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://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3172597 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21969689 https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0155 |
genre |
harbour seal |
genre_facet |
harbour seal |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3172597 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21969689 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0155 |
op_rights |
This journal is © 2011 The Royal Society |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0155 |
container_title |
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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366 |
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1581 |
container_start_page |
3077 |
op_container_end_page |
3084 |
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1766023269172903936 |