The vertebrate inner ear, packed inside the bony skull, is important for hearing and balance. Diversity in its complex shape among animals has long been thought to reflect adaptations to different ...

For example, the ear shape of sea cows is less like that of elephants or hyraxes (closely related afrotherians) and more like that of a dolphin (a much more distantly related mammal).

Humans can't move their ears around in the same way that dogs, cats and horses do. But people do have certain muscles around the ear that never get used, except by those people who are able to ...