The hearing bones
Auditory ossicles · ossicula auditus
Three tiny bones in your middle ear that pass sound from the eardrum to the inner ear.
What it does
The malleus, incus and stapes form a chain of tiny levers across the middle ear. The malleus is attached to the eardrum, and the stapes pushes on a small window into the fluid-filled inner ear. Together they turn sound waves in air into stronger vibrations that the inner ear can detect.
Surprising fact
The stapes, or stirrup, is the smallest bone in the human body, at about three millimetres long.
Why it matters
The bones of the middle ear evolved from bones that formed part of the jaw in our distant ancestors. If they stiffen, as in a condition called otosclerosis, hearing slowly fades, but surgery can replace the stapes.
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Sources
Drafted with AI help; awaiting a human fact-check against these sources.
Open in the 3D atlas · Suggest a correction · Not medical advice.
3D models: Z-Anatomy & BodyParts3D (CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2.1 JP). Card text CC BY 4.0.