The hammer, anvil and stirrup—also known as the malleus, incus, and stapes, respectively, and collectively, as "middle ear ossicles"—are the smallest bones in the human body.

The tiny bones inside—the malleus, incus, and stapes (often called the hammer, anvil, and stirrup)—were once part of the jaw joint in ancient fish and reptiles.

Sound waves pass through the canal of the external ear and vibrate the eardrum, which separates the external ear from the middle ear. The three small bones in the middle ear (hammer or malleus, anvil ...

A newly discovered mammal fossil may give clues to how bones in the middle ear evolved from jaw bones, according to a study published in Science yesterday (December 5).. The malleus, incus, and stapes ...

The mammal ear is a very precise system for hearing—enabling everything from human appreciation of music to the echolocation of bats. Three tiny bones known as ossicles—the hammer (malleus ...

Vibrating Ear Bones Boost Hearing. In normal hearing, ... incus, and stapes—popularly known as the hammer, anvil, and stirrup, due to their shapes. (Explore the human body.) ...

Rare skeletons are helping to pin down the evolution of mammals’ three middle ear bones, known popularly as the hammer, anvil and stirrup. Skip to content. Subscribe or renew today ...

Three tiny bones in the middle ear, known as the incus, malleus and stapes (or anvil, hammer and stirrup), are responsible for the exceptional hearing found in mammals such as dolphins and bats.

Hammer time. Palaeontologists believe that the middle-ear bones of modern mammals once belonged to the jawbone and later separated to adopt their present location.