title: Evolution of the mammalian middle ear: a historical review.
abstract: Here we present a brief, historical review of research into the mammalian middle ear structures. Most of their essential homologies were established by embryologists, notably including Reichert, during the 19th century. The evolutionary dimension was confirmed by finds of fossil synapsids, mainly from the Karroo of South Africa. In 1913, Ernst Gaupp was the first to present a synthesis of the available embryological and paleontological data, but a number of morphological details remained to be solved, such as the origin of the tympanic membrane. Gaupp favoured an independent origin of the eardrum in anurans, sauropsids, and mammals; we support most of his ideas. The present review emphasizes the problem of how the mammalian middle ear structures that developed at the angle of the lower jaw were transferred to the basicranium; the ontogenesis of extant marsupials provides important information on this question.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Evolution und Ökologie, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.|Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Frankfurt, Abteilung Paläoanthropologie und Messelforschung, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.affiliation: Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Frankfurt, Abteilung Paläoanthropologie und Messelforschung, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ruf
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000266:history*; D015509:Developmental Biology / Q000266:history; D004432:Ear, Middle / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000196:embryology; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D008322:Mammals / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D010802:Phylogeny
keywords: Mammalia; evolution; middle ear; middle ear ossicles; ontogeny