Recorded taps on fin whale tympanoperiotic complex to study resonance related to low-frequency hearing

We studied vibrations of the tympanoperiotic complex (TPC) bones of a fin
whale skull. Vibrations were excited by tapping the bones at designated
locations and measuring the sounds emitted by the left and right TPC bones
using eight microphones arranged around the tympanic bulla. This dataset
includes the wav files recorded from all 8 microphones as well as some
descriptive photos and data. Power spectra from the microphone recordings
revealed that the first twelve modes of vibration had resonance
frequencies between 100Hz and 6kHz. Many vibrational modes focused energy
at the sigmoidal process, and therefore the ossicular chain. The resonance
frequencies of the left and right TPC were offset, suggesting a mechanism
for the animals to have improved hearing at a range of frequencies as well
as a mechanism for directionality in their perception of sounds.