Echolocation Research Featured in the Media

As seen in Phys.org, The Daily Science, IFL Science, Tech and Science Post, and other outlets, research co-authored by Professor and Chair of Anatomy Jonathan Geisler, Ph.D., provides new insight into how toothed whales and dolphins came to navigate the underwater world using sound waves (echolocation). The researchers analyzed a large set of fossils belonging to two species of ancient dolphins in the genus Xenorophus, which, like living echolocating dolphins and whales, had asymmetrical skulls. However, the fossils suggest that the animals were less adept than their living relatives at producing high-pitched sounds or hearing high frequencies. Given this, as well as other factors, Geisler and his co-author conclude that Xenorophus marked a key transition in how whales and dolphins developed their “built-in sonar.”