An exciting new study by biologists at the University of Maryland (UMD) in the US has revealed that geckos have a hidden superpower.
The team found that these lizards use their inner ear not just for balance, but also to pick up low-frequency vibrations – a sensory ability that could rewrite what we know about animal hearing.
Published in Current Biology, the study sheds light on the geckos' saccule, a part of the inner ear typically associated with maintaining posture.
Researchers discovered that geckos can also use it to detect subtle ground-based vibrations, giving them a unique 'sixth sense' that works alongside their regular hearing.
The finding suggests that other reptiles may possess this hidden talent too, shaking up long-held beliefs about how animals evolved to hear.
"The ear, as we know it, picks up airborne sound," says Catherine Carr, a Professor of Biology at UMD.
"But this ancient sensory system, normally linked to balance, allows geckos to detect vibrations through mediums like the ground or water. This is a big evolutionary clue for how the auditory system transformed from fish to land animals, including humans."
Geckos are now known to detect vibrations in the 50 to 200 Hz range – well below the frequencies they typically hear through their ears.
Lead author Dawei Han, a postdoctoral researcher at UMD, suggests this discovery could also explain how reptiles once thought to be 'deaf' or 'mute', such as snakes and lizards, may actually communicate using these ground-based signals.
“This sensory pathway changes the game,” says Han. “It opens up new ways to explore how animals interact with their environment, and could even reveal new insights into human hearing and balance disorders.”
Ready to dive deeper into the secrets of animal senses? Find out more about the study: Auditory pathway for detection of vibration in the tokay gecko
Main image: Tokay gecko/Duncan Leitch
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