It is a question that has long perplexed paleontologists and auditory scientists – and mechanical engineer Sunil Puria, a consulting associate professor at Stanford: Why do mammals have three middle ear bones?
"Reptiles don't have them," Puria muses in his office in Durand Hall. "Birds don't have them. If you find a fossil in the field, the surest way to determine if it's a mammal is to look for those three ear bones. But why are they there? Why do we need them?"
Puria, whose research centers on middle and inner ear biomechanics, has begun focusing on this conundrum in earnest. If anyone can identify the precise biological imperative dictating mammalian ear structures, it could well be Puria. Auditory mysteries, to a very large degree, are his life; his latest research, for example, has led to a far more textured understanding of the role bone conduction plays in hearing.
Read more at this link.
Source: Stanford Report
"Reptiles don't have them," Puria muses in his office in Durand Hall. "Birds don't have them. If you find a fossil in the field, the surest way to determine if it's a mammal is to look for those three ear bones. But why are they there? Why do we need them?"
Puria, whose research centers on middle and inner ear biomechanics, has begun focusing on this conundrum in earnest. If anyone can identify the precise biological imperative dictating mammalian ear structures, it could well be Puria. Auditory mysteries, to a very large degree, are his life; his latest research, for example, has led to a far more textured understanding of the role bone conduction plays in hearing.
Read more at this link.
Source: Stanford Report
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