June 21 , 2016

Excerpt:

...[W]e assert that the conclusion that 'early tetrapods also may have been able to detect aerial sound before the appearance of the tympanic middle ear', drawn from observations of salamanders and microsaurs is unfounded. Instead, the results of this study provide interesting insights into the strength of the conservation of an auditory apparatus adapted to terrestrial hearing in a group of aquatic salamanders.

J. S. Anderson, J. D. Pardo, H. C. Maddin, M. Szostakiwskyj & A. Tinius (2016)
Is there an exemplar taxon for modelling the evolution of early tetrapod hearing?
Proceedings of the Royal Soceity B 2016 283: 20160027
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.0027