Hearing, or auditory perception, is the ability to perceive sounds through an organ, such as an ear, by detecting vibrations as periodic changes in the pressure of a surrounding medium. The academic field concerned with hearing is auditory science.
A cat can hear high-frequency sounds up to two octaves higher than a human.
A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditionally identified as such, many more are now recognized. Senses used by non-human organisms are even greater in variety and number. During sensation, sense organs collect various stimuli for transduction, meaning transformation into a form that can be understood by the brain. Sensation and perception are fundamental to nearly every aspect of an organism's cognition, behavior and thought.
Philippe Mercier - The Sense of Taste - Google Art Project
The sense of smell. Bequest of Mrs E.G. Elgar, 1945 Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
Lairesse's Allegory of the Five Senses
Detail of The Senses of Hearing, Touch and Taste, Jan Brueghel the Elder, 1618
