middle ear
The middle ear is the air-filled cavity within the skull of vertebrates that lies between the outer ear and the inner ear. It is linked to the pharynx (and therefore to outside air) via the Eustachian tube and in mammals contains the three ear ossicles, which transmit auditory vibrations from the outer ear (via the tympanum) to the inner ear (via the oval window)[GO]. [ http://amigo.geneontology.org/amigo/term/GO:0042474 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_ear ]
Term info
- UMLS:C0013455 (ncithesaurus:Middle_Ear)
- XAO:0000191
- EHDAA:5693
- NCIT:C12274
- EMAPA:17000
- UMLS:C1268972 (BIRNLEX:1695)
- MAT:0000146
- VHOG:0000312
- BIRNLEX:1695
- Wikipedia:Middle_ear
- MESH:D004432
- MIAA:0000146
- SCTID:181185000
- MA:0000253
- UMLS:C0013455 (BIRNLEX:1695)
- CALOHA:TS-2233
- EV:0100357
- FMA:56513
- BTO:0002099
- EHDAA2:0001181
- GAID:165
- AAO:0011065
uberon_slim, pheno_slim
The intermediate portion of the ear which consists of a small air-filled and membrane-lined chamber. It is lodged in the temporal bone and continues with the nasopharynx through the Eustachian tube. It is separated from the external ear by the tympanic membrane and from the inner ear by the fenestrae. [Dorian_AF, Elsevier's_encyclopaedic_dictionary_of_medicine, Part_B:_Anatomy_(1988)_Amsterdam_etc.:_Elsevier][VHOG]
The tympanic cavity and auditory tube of an amniote develop from the first embryonic pharyngeal pouch, so they are homologous to the first gill pouch, or spiracle, of a fish. We are uncertain whether this homology strictly applies to the middle ear cavity and auditory tube of lissamphibians, which show certain peculiarities in their development.[uncertain][VHOG]
auris media
uberon
UBERON:0001756
Middle ear
Term relations
- tympanic membrane
- pharyngotympanic tube
- middle ear epithelium
- tympanic ring
- tympanic cavity
- blood vessel of tympanic cavity
- muscle of auditory ossicle
- nerve of tympanic cavity
- tegmen tympani
- mucosa of middle ear
- stapedial artery
- ligament of middle ear
- mesenchyme of middle ear
- promontory of tympanic cavity
- auditory ossicle endochondral element