ArticlePloS one2013
Functional implications of ubiquitous semicircular canal non-orthogonality in mammals.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed.
- Morphometric study of the bony labyrinth of the inner ear in the European moles Talpa europaea, Talpa occidentalis, and Talpa aquitania.Journal of anatomy · 2026Article
- Semicircular canal morphology in Rodentia and its relationship to locomotion.Journal of anatomy · 2025Article
- Variation and disparity within the inner ear and trigeminus of the tenrecomorpha.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Sensory Reconstruction of the Fossil LorisidAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Navigating space and the developing mind.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Review
- Locomotor behavior and hearing sensitivity in an early lagomorph reconstructed from the bony labyrinth.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Morphology and morphometry of the inner ear of the dromedary camel and their influence on the efficiency of hearing and equilibrium.Zoological letters · 2022Article
- Independent origin of large labyrinth size in turtles.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Human semicircular canal form: Ontogenetic changes and variation of shape and size.Journal of anatomy · 2022Article
- Evolution of arboreality and fossoriality in squirrels and aplodontid rodents: Insights from the semicircular canals of fossil rodents.Journal of anatomy · 2021Article
- A New Coordinate System for Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Vestibular System.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Article
- The internal cranial anatomy of Champsosaurus (Choristodera: Champsosauridae): Implications for neurosensory function.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Autonomic laterality in caloric vestibular stimulation.World journal of cardiology · 2020Article
- Endocranial morphology of the Brazilian Permian dicynodont Rastodon procurvidens (Therapsida: Anomodontia).Journal of anatomy · 2020Article
- Evolution of the Mammalian Ear: An Evolvability Hypothesis.Evolutionary biology · 2020Article
- Endocranial anatomy of the ceratopsid dinosaurPeerJ · 2020Article
- The vertebrate middle and inner ear: A short overview.Journal of morphology · 2019Review
- Evidence for convergent evolution of ultrasonic hearing in toothed whales (Cetacea: Odontoceti).Biology letters · 2019Article
- Article
- The braincase of Malawisaurus dixeyi (Sauropoda: Titanosauria): A 3D reconstruction of the brain endocast and inner ear.PloS one · 2019Article
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3 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The 'canonical model' of semicircular canal orientation in mammals assumes that 1) the three ipsilateral canals of an inner ear exist in orthogonal planes (i.e., orthogonality), 2) corresponding left and right canal pairs have equivalent angles (i.e., angle symmetry), and 3) contralateral synergistic canals occupy parallel planes (i.e., coplanarity). However, descriptions of vestibular anatomy that quantify semicircular canal orientation in single species often diverge substantially from this model. Data for primates further suggest that semicircular canal orthogonality varies predictably with the angular head velocities encountered in locomotion. These observations raise the possibility that orthogonality, symmetry, and coplanarity are misleading descriptors of semicircular canal orientation in mammals, and that deviations from these norms could have significant functional consequences. Here we critically assess the canonical model of semicircular canal orientation using high-resolution X-ray computed tomography scans of 39 mammal species. We find that substantial deviations from orthogonality, angle symmetry, and coplanarity are the rule for the mammals in our comparative sample. Furthermore, the degree to which the semicircular canals of a given species deviate from orthogonality is negatively correlated with estimated vestibular sensitivity. We conclude that the available comparative morphometric data do not support the canonical model and that its overemphasis as a heuristic generalization obscures a large amount of functionally relevant variation in semicircular canal orientation between species.
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