Marine turtle middle-ear anatomy.

The middle-ear structures from 5 Atlantic Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and 1 Atlantic Ridley (Lepidochelys kempi) marine turtles from dead specimens found stranded in the lower Chesapeake Bay were dissected and examined superficially and by light microscopy. The marine turtle middle ear is poorly adapted as an aerial receptor in mammalian and reptilian terms. However, it appears well designed as a peripheral component of a bone conduction system. The thick tympanum, while disadvantageous as an aerial receptor, likely enhances low-frequency bone conduction hearing. The columella directly couples the cochlea and saccule so that its movement would stimulate each end organ. Turtle hearing is probably an integration of both outputs.