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External ear: anatomy, location and function

The external ear is the part of the ear outside the tympanic membrane that collects sound. It collects and funnels sound waves to the eardrum and helps localise sound.

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Structures

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Highlighted in the model: External ear. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

External ear at a glance

What it is
The external ear is the part of the ear outside the tympanic membrane that collects sound.
Location
It consists of the auricle (pinna) on the side of the head and the external acoustic meatus leading to the tympanic membrane.
Function
It collects and funnels sound waves to the eardrum and helps localise sound.
Body system
Eye & ear · single, midline structure
FMA ID
FMA52781 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • Auricle is elastic cartilage covered by skin.
  • Sensory supply comes from the auriculotemporal, great auricular and lesser occipital nerves and the auricular branch of the vagus, with a small facial nerve contribution.

Clinical relevance

Otitis externa is inflammation of the external acoustic meatus.

Structures next to the external ear

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: External ear (FMA52781). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §14.1 Sensory Perception. Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.

Related anatomy

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.