Acoustic communication in terrestrial and aquatic vertebrates

Sound propagates much faster and over larger distances in water than in air, mainly because of differences in the density of these media. This raises the question of whether terrestrial (land mammals, birds) and (semi-) aquatic animals (frogs, fishes, cetaceans) differ fundamentally in the way they communicate acoustically. Terrestrial vertebrates primarily produce sounds by vibrating vocal tissue (folds) directly in an airflow. This mechanism has been modified in frogs and cetaceans, whereas fishes generate sounds in quite different ways mainly by utilizing the swimbladder or pectoral fins. On land, vertebrates pick up sounds with light tympana, whereas other mechanisms have had to evolve underwater. Furthermore, fishes differ from all other vertebrates by not having an inner ear end organ devoted exclusively to hearing. Comparing acoustic communication within and between aquatic and terrestrial vertebrates reveals that there is no 'aquatic way' of sound communication, as compared with a more uniform terrestrial one. Birds and mammals display rich acoustic communication behaviour, which reflects their highly developed cognitive and social capabilities. In contrast, acoustic signaling seems to be the exception in fishes, and is obviously limited to short distances and to substrate-breeding species, whereas all cetaceans communicate acoustically and, because of their predominantly pelagic lifestyle, exploit the benefits of sound propagation in a dense, obstacle-free medium that provides fast and almost lossless signal transmission.