Many vertebrate species communicate using sound in species-specific ways. It is usually assumed
that species have arisen as populations adapted to specific environmental characteristics and that the environmental constraints under which they have arisen have shaped their evolution. In communication, the environment may constrain and determine the sorts of sounds that are transmitted well with minimal distortion and there are often anatomical and physiological constraints on the sounds a species is capable of broadcasting. The auditory
system, as a communication system component, is thus often assumed to have adapted to these sorts of constraints.