Corpus: Ear

The ear' is the seat of the organ of balance and hearing (organum vestibulocochleare) of animals and is both functionally and anatomically comparable to the human ear.

The organ of balance and hearing (organum vestibulocochleare) is a dual sense organ that arises from a common anlage (labyrinth vesicle or ear vesicle).

The actual ear is responsible for the reception and transmission of acoustic environmental stimuli (sound waves of varying intensity and frequency). While the ear conveys the conscious sensations (noises, sounds), the stimuli acting on the organ of balance (gravity or gravitational pull) are not consciously realised as such, but are registered and further processed in the corresponding regulatory centres. These are switched in the sense of simple or compound reflexes to the motor centres and pathways that serve to maintain balance and the position of the body in space.

The ear of animals can be divided into three parts:

• Auris externa (outer ear)
• Auris media (middle ear)
• Auris interna (inner ear)

The receptors of both sensory organs are housed in a complex system of cavities in a very small space - in mammals in the petrous pyramid (pars petrosa) of the temporal bone (os temporale).

The ears can be significantly affected by various diseases. Depending on the species, various diseases and changes must be taken into account. The most common diseases of the ear include:

• Othaematoma (blood ear), common in dogs
• Ear mange (mange form), caused by Otodectes cynotis
• Otitis externa, common in carnivores - caused by Malassezia pachydermatis

• Nickel, Richard, August Schummer, Eugen Seiferle. Volume IV: Nervous system. Parey, 2004.
• Salomon, Franz-Viktor, Geyer, Hans, Gille, Uwe. Anatomy for veterinary medicine. 2nd, updated and expanded edition. Enke-Verlag, 2008.