Parts of the ear are numbered in the image below. The numbers correspond to the listing below the image which defines the parts of the anatomy of the ear.


 Ear, organ of hearing and balance. Only vertebrates, or animals with backbones, have ears. Invertebrate animals, such as jellyfish and insects, lack ears, but have other structures or organs that serve similar functions. The most complex and highly developed ears are those of mammals.


 Definitions of Parts Shown Above:



 1)Helix - The in-curve rim of the external ear

 2)Antihelix - A landmark of the outer ear

 3)Lobule - A landmark of the outer ear. The very bottom part of the outer ear

 4)Crest of Helix - A landmark of the outer ear

 5)ExternalAuditory Meatus - or External Auditory Canal. The auditory canal is the channel through which the sounds are led from the ear outside to the middle ear.

 6)Eardrum - (tympanic membrane) A thin layer of skin at the end of the external ear canal

 7)Auditory Ossicles - The three small bones in the middle ear, know as the hammer (malleus), anvil (incus) and stirrup (stapes) which are connected to one another. Together these ossicles are called the ossicular chain. Their purpose is to lead the sound striking the eardrum further into the inner ear

 8)Oval Window - An opening in the bone between the air filled middle ear cavity and the fluid filled inner ear, and is covered by a thin membrane

 9)Cochlea - Part of the inner ear that contains part of the hearing organs.

 10)Semicircular Canals - Part of the organ of balance that is part of the inner ear

 11)Eighth Nerve - Nerve that transmits messages from the inner ear to the brain.

 12)Eustachian Tube - A tube connecting the middle ear cavity and the pharynx (back of the throat).



 It can be opened by coughing or swallowing, though it is normally closed. The occasional opening of the Eustachian tube is necessary to equalize the are in the middle ear cavity