ear

Also known as ears

In vertebrates, an ear is the organ that enables hearing and (in mammals) body balance using the vestibular system. In humans, the ear is described as having three parts: the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists of the auricle, the visible outer part, and the ear canal. The middle ear includes the tympanic cavity and the three ossicles. The inner ear sits in the bony labyrinth, and contains structures which are key to several senses: the semicircular canals, which enable balance and eye tracking when moving; the utricle and saccule, which enable balance when stat

OverviewAI-generated

The ear is a part of the head that has the use of hearing. It consists of the outer ear, middle ear, inner ear, and auricle. There are two ears. The Unicode character for the ear is 👂.

The study of the ear is audiology. It is referenced by 960 other encyclopedia articles. Descriptions of the ear appear in the Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, Gujin Tushu Jicheng, and Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition.

The ear is categorized under "Ears" in Commons. It is listed in the Wikipedia:List of articles all languages should have and Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4. The NCI Thesaurus ID for the ear is C12394.

Synthesized by Vinony from 16 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, PubMed, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Key facts

Anatomy.Name: Ear
Anatomy.Latin: auris
Anatomy.Greek: οὖς (oûs)
Anatomy.Image: Human right ear (cropped).jpg
Anatomy.Caption: The outer portion of the human ear
Anatomy.Width: 250
Anatomy.System: Auditory system

via Wikipedia infobox

Research

241,155 papers

Ear Abnormalities.Pediatrics in review · 2021Bhatti SL, Daly LT, Mejia M et al.DOI: 10.1542/pir.2019-0167
Endoscopic Ear Surgery: Redefining Middle Ear Anatomy and Physiology.ReviewOtolaryngologic clinics of North America · 2021Marchioni D, Rubini A, Soloperto DDOI: 10.1016/j.otc.2020.09.003
[Surgical management of high-grade ear malformations in childhood].ReviewHNO · 2020Grundmann TDOI: 10.1007/s00106-020-00831-2
Dermatologic Conditions of the External Ear: Basics, Updates, and Pearls.ReviewOtolaryngologic clinics of North America · 2023Leibowitz R, Koblinski JE, Hogue LM et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.otc.2023.05.014
Middle Ear Mechanics: The Science of Ossiculoplasty.ReviewOtolaryngologic clinics of North America · 2026Norouzi A, Guan X, Cheng YSDOI: 10.1016/j.otc.2025.11.006
Development and Integration of the Ear.ReviewCurrent topics in developmental biology · 2015Fuchs JC, Tucker ASDOI: 10.1016/bs.ctdb.2015.07.007
Acquired ear defects.ReviewClinics in plastic surgery · 2002Elsahy NIDOI: 10.1016/s0094-1298(01)00002-5
Unilateral petrified ear.Clinical and experimental dermatology · 2019Shah A, Khorshid SM, Suchak R et al.DOI: 10.1111/ced.13698

via PubMed

~32 min read

Encyclopedic overview

27 sections

Contents

Structure
Outer ear
Middle ear
Inner ear
Blood supply
Functions
Hearing
Balance
Development
Inner ear
Middle ear
Outer ear
Growth
Uniqueness
Clinical significance
Hearing loss
Congenital abnormalities
Vertigo
Injury
Tinnitus
Hyperacusis
Society and culture
Other animals
Invertebrates
See also
References
External links

The ear develops from the first pharyngeal pouch and six small swellings that develop in the early embryo called otic placodes, which are derived from the ectoderm.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “ear” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.