The malleus, or hammer, is a hammer-shaped small bone or ossicle of the middle ear. It connects with the

incus The ''incus'' (plural incudes) or anvil is a bone in the middle ear. The anvil-shaped small bone is one of three ossicles in the middle ear. The ''incus'' receives vibrations from the ''malleus'', to which it is connected laterally, and transmit ...

, and is attached to the inner surface of the

eardrum In the anatomy of humans and various other tetrapods, the eardrum, also called the tympanic membrane or myringa, is a thin, cone-shaped membrane that separates the external ear The outer ear, external ear, or auris externa is the extern ...

. The word is Latin for 'hammer' or 'mallet'. It transmits the sound vibrations from the

to the ''

'' (anvil).

Structure

The malleus is a bone situated in the middle ear. It is the first of the three

ossicles The ossicles (also called auditory ossicles) are three bones in either middle ear that are among the smallest bones in the human body. They serve to transmit sounds from the air to the fluid-filled labyrinth (cochlea). The absence of the auditory ...

, and attached to the tympanic membrane. The head of the malleus is the large protruding section, which attaches to the

. The head connects to the neck of malleus. The bone continues as the handle (or manubrium) of malleus, which connects to the tympanic membrane. Between the neck and handle of the malleus, lateral and anterior processes emerge from the bone. The bone is oriented so that the head is superior and the handle is inferior.

Development

Embryologically, the malleus is derived from the first pharyngeal arch along with the ''

''. It grows from Meckel's cartilage.

Function

The malleus is one of three

in the middle ear which transmit sound from the tympanic membrane (ear drum) to the

inner ear The inner ear (internal ear, auris interna) is the innermost part of the vertebrate ear. In vertebrates, the inner ear is mainly responsible for sound detection and balance. In mammals, it consists of the bony labyrinth, a hollow cavity in the ...

. The malleus receives vibrations from the tympanic membrane and transmits this to the incus.

Clinical significance

The malleus may be palpated by surgeons during

ear surgery Otorhinolaryngology ( , abbreviated ORL and also known as otolaryngology, otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ORL–H&N or OHNS), or ear, nose, and throat (ENT)) is a surgical subspeciality within medicine that deals with the surgical a ...

. It may become fixed in place due to surgical complications, causing hearing loss. This may be corrected with further surgery.

History

Several sources attribute the discovery of the malleus to the anatomist and

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

Alessandro Achillini Alessandro Achillini (''Latin'' Alexander Achillinus; 20 or 29 October 1463 (or possibly 1461)2 August 1512) was an Italian philosopher and physician. He is known for the anatomic studies that he was able to publish, made possible by a 13th-centu ...

. The first brief written description of the malleus was by

Berengario da Carpi Jacopo Berengario da Carpi (also known as Jacobus Berengarius Carpensis, Jacopo Barigazzi, Giacomo Berengario da Carpi or simply Carpus; c. 1460 – c. 1530) was an Italian physician. His book "''Isagoge breves''" published in 1522 made him the mo ...

in his ''Commentaria super anatomia Mundini'' (1521). Niccolo Massa's ''Liber introductorius anatomiae'' described the malleus in slightly more detail and likened both it and the

to little hammers terming them ''malleoli''.

Other animals

The ''malleus'' is unique to mammals, and evolved from a lower jaw bone in basal

amniotes Amniotes are a clade of tetrapod vertebrates that comprises sauropsids (including all reptiles and birds, and extinct parareptiles and non-avian dinosaurs) and synapsids (including pelycosaurs and therapsids such as mammals). They are distingu ...

called the articular, which still forms part of the jaw joint in reptiles and birds.

Additional images

References

{{Authority control Auditory system Bones of the head and neck Ear Ossicles