Congratulations to biology postdoc Dawei "David" Han and Distinguished University Professor Catherine Carr on their new paper published today in Current Biology

In the paper, they revealed that geckos use the saccule—a part of the animals' inner ear traditionally associated with maintaining balance and body positioning—to detect low-frequency vibrations. This special “sixth sense” also plays a complementary role to the geckos’ normal hearing and the way they sense the world around them. Their findings suggest that this previously unrecognized hearing mechanism may be present in other reptilian species as well, challenging existing ideas about how animal sensory systems evolved and diverged over time.

“The ear, as we know it, hears airborne sound. But this ancient inner pathway, which is typically linked to balance, helps geckos detect vibrations that travel through mediums like the ground or water,” Catherine said. “This pathway exists in amphibians and fish, and now it’s proven to be preserved in lizards as well. Our findings shed light on how the auditory system evolved from what you see in fish to what you see in land animals including humans.”

You can read the full press release here: https://cmns.umd.edu/news-events/news/scientists-uncover-auditory-sixth-sense-geckos