The cat family is known for having amazing hearing. Cats, both big and small, are natural predators, and their sharp hearing helps them find and catch prey. Smaller cats, especially domestic ones, are known for having incredible hearing, but large cats are great at it too!
Domestic Cats
Domestic cats are famous for having some of the best hearing in the animal world. They can hear sounds from about 48 Hz to 85 kHz, which is way beyond what humans (20 Hz to 20 kHz) or dogs (60 Hz to 45 kHz) can hear. This super-sensitive hearing is useful for hunting small animals, like rodents, which make high-pitched noises that humans and other predators can’t hear. Cats’ ears are also very mobile, able to rotate up to 180 degrees, helping them figure out exactly where a sound is coming from. This is key for both hunting and staying safe.
The shape of a cat’s ear helps too. Their flexible ear flaps collect sound waves and can adjust to focus on certain noises while filtering out others. Cats can hear the ultrasonic sounds made by rodents, which many other predators can’t.
Wild Cats
Though domestic cats might have the sharpest hearing, wild cats also have excellent hearing.
For example, African servals have the largest ears of any cat, relative to their body. This helps them pinpoint sounds exactly, especially when hunting small animals. They often jump into the air to catch prey they’ve located by sound. Servals’ long ears are great at picking up high-pitched sounds, so they can hear small animals hiding in the grass.
Lynxes and caracals also have great hearing. Their ears have tufts of fur that scientists theorize could help them hear. These tufts might boost their hearing sensitivity, especially when locating prey like hares and birds. These tufts might serve a few different purposes though. They could act almost like whiskers to help them feel or they could be a communication tool.
Cheetahs also have good hearing, but their speed and agility are what really help them catch prey. Their hearing is more useful for picking up changes in their environment or detecting predators, but when it comes to the chase, their sight and speed are the real advantages.
Big Cats
The larger cats in the Felidae family, like lions, tigers, and leopards, also have good hearing, though they rely more on their sight and strength to hunt. Big cats can hear sounds in the range of 45 Hz to 60 kHz, so they can pick up low and mid-range sounds, but they might not be as sensitive as small cats to high-pitched noises.
Lions use their hearing mainly to communicate with other members of their pride and to detect potential threats or prey. While their hearing is great, it’s not as finely tuned for high-pitched sounds as smaller cats. Lions rely more on their sight for hunting and navigating, and their hearing helps them pick up low-frequency sounds, like the movements of bigger animals.
Tigers, on the other hand, use their hearing to help them stalk prey in dense forests where they can’t see well. Their hearing helps them detect animals moving through the underbrush, as well as potential threats from other predators. They’re also capable of hearing infrasound, which are sound waves below 20 Hz (frequencies not detectable by the human ear). This allows them to communicate through dense landscapes and long distances.
Overall, cats of all sizes have incredible hearing, which correlates to them being such great predators!
Sources
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0378595585901005?via%3Dihub
https://www.ifaw.org/journal/animals-best-hearing-world
https://www.lsu.edu/deafness/HearingRange.html