Recent Courses

EE BIOL M290 | PHYSCI M290 - Seminar: Comparative Physiology
PHY SCI 173 - Anatomy and Physiology of Sense Organs
PHYSCI M290 - Seminar: Comparative Physiology

Research Areas

Behavior

Research Interests

My research focuses on the question of how animals extract relevant sounds from the often highly noisy backgrounds in which they live. The techniques I use are the quantitative analysis of vocal behavior of animals in their natural habitats, followed by single fiber neurophysiological recordings in order to elucidate mechanisms underlying signal processing in noise. A second research direction is based on the discovery of the remarkable sensitivity to substrate vibrations possessed by burrowing animals. We are now characterizing and providing accurate measurements of vibrational thresholds as well as exploring the differences between substrate-vibration and airborne sound at the cellular level. Other projects carried out by our group have included an investigation of the neurophysiological basis of sound localization in noisy environments, a study of the temperature-dependence of the representation of time in the vertebrate auditory system, the biophysics of sound localization and the evolution of the middle ear reflex in vertebrates. Current projects include using laser Doppler vibrometry to elucidate the sound pathways relevant for stimulation of both the middle and inner ear in small vertebrates, and using whole-cell voltage clamp techniques to carry out an anatomical and physiological study of the mechanisms underlying transduction in vertebrate sensory hair cells. In addition, we supplement the lab work with direct behavioral observations and controlled acoustic playback studies carried out with animals in their natural habitats. These have included both Old and New World lowland wet tropical forests, African deserts and temperate forests in South America.

Selected Publications

Cobo-Cuan A, Toledo LF and Narins PM (2020) Call production and auditory sensitivity are uncompromised by nontympanic malformations in Cururu Toads. Herpetologica 76(3): 278-284. https://doi.org/10.1655/Herpetologica-D-19-00069.1

Riondato I, Gamba M, Tan CL, Niu K, Narins PM, Yang Y and Giacoma C (2021) Allometric escape and acoustic signal features facilitate high-frequency communication in an endemic Chinese primate. J Comp Physiol 207: 327-336. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-021-01465-7

Yi JD, Cobo-Cuan A, Márquez R, Sheridan JA, Grafe TU, Farina A and Narins PM (2021) Novel acoustic snapshot of a Sarawak forest. J Ecoacoustics 5(1), 1: doi:10.35995/jea5010001.

Narins PM (2021) Adaptive variability of the frog call oscillator provides advantages for communication in noise. 2021 International Conference on Electrical, Computer, Communications and Mechatronics Engineering (ICECCME), 2021 – Flic en Flac, Mauritius, pp. 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICECCME52200.2021.9590838

Labra A, Reyes-Olivares C, Moreno-Gómez N, Velásquez NA, Penna M, Delano P and Narins PM (2021) Geographic variation in the coupling between call characteristics and auditory sensitivity in the Chilean Weeping lizard. Ecology and Evolution, 11: 18633–18650. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8469

Zupanc GKH, Arikawa K, Helfrich-Förster C, Homberg U, Narins PM, Rössler W, Simmons AM and Warrant EJ (2022) It’s all about seeing and hearing: the Editors’ and Readers’ Choice Awards 2022. J Comp Physiol 208: 351-353. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-022-01541-6

Simmons AM and Narins PM (2022) The sound of one frog calling: The bullfrog’s reactions to acoustic stimuli. J Acoust Soc Am 151(3): R5. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0009652

Zaffaroni-Caorsi V, Both C, Márquez R, Llusia D, Narins P, Debon M and Borges-Martins M (2022) Effects of anthropogenic noise on anurans. Bioacoustics. 32(1): 90–120.  https://doi.org/10.1080/09524622.2022.2070543

Narins PM (2022) The zone of silence that surrounds herpetologists: Substrate-borne vibrations can modulate frog behavior. 2^nd International Conference on Electrical, Computer, Communications and Mechatronics Engineering (ICECCME), 2022 – Male, Maldives), pp. 1511–1515. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICECCME55909.2022.9988412

Narins PM, Llano DA and Zupanc GKH (2023) Neuroethology of auditory systems: contributions in memory of  Albert S. Feng. (Editorial). J Comp Physiol A 209:1–4. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-022-01603-9

Narins PM and Feng J (2023) Albert Feng: father, friend, scientist, innovator (1944-2021). J Comp Physiol A 209:7–10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36207512

Shen J-X, Xu Z-M and Narins PM (2023) Male antiphonal calls and phonotaxis evoked by female courtship calls in the large odorous frog (Odorrana graminea). J Comp Physiol A 209:69–77. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35939131

Cobo-Cuan A, Zhang F, Feng AS and Narins PM (2023) DPOAEs and tympanal membrane vibrations reveal adaptations of the sexually dimorphic ear of the concave-eared torrent frog, Odorrana tormota. J Comp Physiol A 209:79–88. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36104577

Zupanc GKH, Rössler W, Warrant EJ, Homberg U, Arikawa K, Helfrich-Förster C, Narins PM and Megela Simmons A (2023) Contact chemoreception, magnetic maps, thermoregulation by a superorganism, and, thanks to Einstein, an all-time record: the Editors’ and Readers’ Choice Awards 2023. J Comp Physiol 209:337–340.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-022-01541-6

Narins PM (2023) What can we learn about frog biology from acoustic playback studies? International Conference and Exhibition for Science  (ICES), 2023 – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia).

Narins PM, Gerhardt HC and Christensen-Dalsgaard J (2024) A nasty, brutish, and short history of amphibian bioacoustics. In: A History of Discoveries on Hearing (DR Ketten, AB Coffin, RR Fay, AN Popper, eds.) Springer Handbook of Auditory Research, vol 77. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, pp. 75–112. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41320-9_4

Sheridan JA, Grafe U, Márquez R, Narins PM, Vázquez-Garcia P and Yambun P (2024) Call descriptions of two species of Meristogenys (Anura: Ranidae) from Sabah, Malaysia with novel notes on species morphology. Raffles Bull. Zool. 72:356-363. https://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2024/10/RBZ-2024-0028.pdf