A 419-million-year-old Chinese fossil shows that the human middle ear evolved from fish gills
Shuyu’s 3D brain. Credit: IVPP The human middle ear, which houses three small, vibrating bones, is key to transporting sound vibrations to the inner ear, where they become nerve impulses that allow us to hear. Embryonic and fossil evidence shows that the human middle ear evolved from the spiracle of fish. However, the origin of …