Anewly 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 ...

The teeth of horses and zebras look alike. The ear bones of mammals were once the jaws of prehistoric reptiles. And so on. Despite these differences, all mammals share four traits that are shown ...

Mammals have exceptional hearing. Using echolocation, bats can detect tiny insects flying in pitch-black darkness. Elephants ...

The ear is a physically complex sense organ, especially in mammals. Because some of the ear’s structure involves bones, much of the evolution of the ear can be followed through the fossil record. The ...

"Modern mammals' bones migrated backward to become the small bones of the middle ear. That's why mammals hear so much better than reptiles." The separation of the jaw and the ear bones allowed the ...

The incus, malleus and stapes of our inner ear are the remnants of these ancient jaw bones. By the early part of the Jurassic, about 191 million years ago, mammals had very sensitive ears that ...