DOI: 10.5061/dryad.wpzgmsbwz
title: Finite element modelling of hearing capabilities in the Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor)

description: Despite increasing concern about the effects of anthropogenic noise on
 marine fauna, relevant research is limited, particularly in those
 inaccessible species, such as the Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor). In
 this study, we collected freshly deceased Little Penguins for dissection
 and microCT scans. The head structures, including the ear apparatus, were
 reconstructed based on high-resolution imaging data for the species.
 Moreover, 3D finite-element models were built based on microCT data to
 simulate the sound reception processes and ear responses to the incident
 planar waves at the selected frequencies. The received sound pressure
 fields and motion (i.e., displacement and velocity) of the internal
 ear-related structures were modelled. The synergistic response of ear
 components to incident aerial and underwater sounds was computed to
 predict the hearing capabilities of the Little Penguins across a broad
 frequency range (100 Hz–10 kHz), both in air and under water. Our
 predicted data showed good agreement with other diving birds in both the
 form and range of auditory sensitivity. This study demonstrates a
 promising method to study hearing in other inaccessible animals. The
 outputs from this study can inform noise impact mitigation and
 conservation management.
description: The 3D geometry files were reconstructed based on microCT scans,
 which were used to build the hearing model. The data was collected by
 performing microCT scan-based finite-element modeling using COMSOL
 Multiphysics software. After the simulation, the data
 was exported and analyzed using OriginLab software.
description: # The data exported from FE models for predicting audiograms
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wpzgmsbwz](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wpzgmsbwz) In this research, we used microCT-based finite element modelling to simulate the sound reception process of a little penguin in air and underwater. The data was exported from the 3D finite element sound reception modelling performed via COMSOL Multiphysics. ## Description of the data and file structure The data includes a zip file containing 3D geometry files and four Excel data sheets. The 3D geometry files are in .stl formats, which can be opened in COMSOL Multiphysics software or the MeshLab software (free software). The data sheets can be viewed using Microsoft Excel. The data sheets (“Transfer function-In-Air.xlsx” and “Transfer function-Underwater.xlsx”) show how the in-air and underwater transfer functions were calculated and how we used these transfer functions to predict the audiograms. In the “Transfer function-In-Air.xlsx” data sheet, column A is the frequency (Hz), column B is the velocity of the columella footplate exported from the modelling results (in-air model), column C converts the unit of the second column from millimetres (mm) to nanometers (nm), and column D is the calculated threshold (dB) using the reference value of the stapes footplate, 3.18. In the “Transfer function-Underwater.xlsx” data sheet, column A is the frequency (Hz), column B is the velocity of the columella footplate exported from the modelling results (underwater model), column C converts the unit of the second column from millimetres (mm) to nanometers (nm), and column D is the calculated threshold (dB) using the reference value of the stapes footplate, 3.18. Cells marked "n/a" indicate that the data is not applicable. The data sheets (“In-Air Audiogram and Comparison.xlsx” and “Underwater Audiogram and Comparison.xlsx”) show the predicted audiograms and their comparison to previous data measured in experiments (other bird species). In the “In-Air Audiogram and Comparison.xlsx” data sheet, columns A, C, E, G, I, K, M, O, and Q represent frequencies (Hz), while columns B, D, F, H, J, L, N, P, and R represent the thresholds (dB) of different birds’ aerial hearing. In the “Underwater Audiogram and Comparison.xlsx” data sheet, columns A and C represent frequencies (Hz), while columns B and D represent the thresholds (dB) of different birds’ underwater hearing. Cells marked "n/a" indicate that the data is not applicable. The 3D geometry files were exported directly from COMSOL Multiphysics software. These 3D files were reconstructed based on both medical CT and microCT scans. During data analysis, we performed optimization and modifications, such as smoothing and removing overlaps and self-intersections. ## Sharing/Access information No links to other publicly accessible locations of the data in this research. ## Code/Software We used COMSOL Multiphysics software (Stockholm, Sweden; version 6.1) for the finite element modeling and data analysis.