Editing Bioacoustics (section)

{{Short description|Study of sound relating to biology}}
[[File:Sonogram L luscinia L megarhynchos.png|thumb|[[Spectrogram]]s of [[Thrush nightingale]] (''Luscinia luscinia'') and [[Common nightingale]] (''Luscinia megarhynchos'') singing help to reliably distinguish these two species by voice.]]
'''Bioacoustics''' is a cross-disciplinary [[science]] that combines [[biology]] and [[acoustics]]. Usually it refers to the investigation of [[sound]] production, dispersion and reception in [[animal]]s (including [[humans]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bioacoustics.info/ |title=Bioacoustics - the International Journal of Animal Sound and its Recording |publisher=Taylor & Francis |access-date=31 July 2012}}</ref> This involves [[neurophysiology|neurophysiological]] and [[anatomy|anatomical]] basis of sound production and detection, and relation of acoustic [[Signal (electrical engineering)|signals]] to the [[Transmission medium|medium]] they disperse through. The findings provide clues about the [[evolution]] of acoustic mechanisms, and from that, the evolution of animals that employ them.

In [[underwater acoustics]] and [[fisheries acoustics]] the term is also used to mean the effect of [[plants]] and animals on sound propagated underwater, usually in reference to the use of [[sonar]] technology for [[biomass]] estimation.<ref>Medwin H. & Clay C.S. (1998). ''Fundamentals of Acoustical Oceanography'', [[Academic Press]]</ref><ref name="SimmondsMacLennan">Simmonds J. & MacLennan D. (2005). ''Fisheries Acoustics: Theory and Practice'', second edition. [[Wiley-Blackwell|Blackwell]]</ref> The study of substrate-borne vibrations used by animals is considered by some a distinct field called [[biotremology]].<ref name="Primer">{{cite journal |last1=Hill |first1=Peggy S.M. |last2=Wessel |first2=Andreas |year=2016 |title=Biotremology |journal=[[Current Biology]] |volume=26 |issue=5 |pages=R187–R191 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2016.01.054 |pmid=26954435|doi-access=free |bibcode=2016CBio...26.R187H }}</ref>