The true shape of the tympanic membrane.
Twenty-eight human tympanic membranes (TM) are presented. In almost all of them the horizontal axis is longer than the vertical. This is contrary to the accepted view, which describes the tympanic membrane as being longer in its vertical dimension.
D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D006801:Humans; D009903:Optical Illusions; D014432:Tympanic Membrane / Q000033:anatomy & histology*