No Ears, No Problem: Frogs Can Hear With Their Lungs

Frogs, like the coqui frogs in Hawaii, have unique hearing adaptations. They lack external ears but use tympanic membranes on their heads to detect sound vibrations. These vibrations are processed in the inner ear, allowing frogs to determine sound pitch and location. However, small tympanic membranes struggle with low-frequency sounds. Frogs compensate by using their lungs, which vibrate like eardrums, to detect these sounds. This lung-assisted hearing may reflect how early amphibians heard before tympanic membranes evolved.

How do frogs hear sounds if they do not have external ears?

What role does the tympanic membrane play in a frog's ability to locate sound?

Explain how low-frequency sounds affect the tympanic membranes of frogs.

In what way do the lungs assist frogs in hearing?

What evidence suggests that body hearing might have been used by early amphibians?