ABSTRACT
Any comprehensive understanding of mouse hearing should be informed by an understanding of the sounds that the mouse auditory system has evolved to detect. All sensory systems, including the auditory system, have evolved because they allow an organism to process sensory inputs important for survival and reproduction. In the case of the mouse, the sounds that mice produce as part of their social behavior have likely contributed to the evolution of the mouse auditory system. This conclusion would seem warranted by auditory sensitivity in normal-hearing house mice roughly corresponding to frequencies at which mice emit audible and ultrasonic sounds. This chapter examines the auditory communication of adult mice.
