Incus
Bone of the middle ear
title: "Incus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bones-of-the-head-and-neck", "auditory-system", "ear", "ossicles", "otorhinolaryngology", "otology", "middle-ear"] description: "Bone of the middle ear" topic_path: "engineering" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Bone of the middle ear ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox bone"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Incus |
| Latin | incus |
| Image | Gray917.png |
| Caption | Left incus. A. From within. B. From the front. |
| Image2 | Gray915.png |
| Caption2 | Auditory tube, laid open by a cut in its long axis. |
| Precursor | First branchial arch |
| PartOf | Middle ear |
| Articulations | Incudomalleolar and incudostapedial joint |
| Pronunciation | |
| :: |
::callout[type=note] ossicle ::
| Name = Incus | Latin = incus | Image = Gray917.png | Caption = Left incus. A. From within. B. From the front. | Image2 = Gray915.png | Caption2 = Auditory tube, laid open by a cut in its long axis. | Precursor = First branchial arch | PartOf = Middle ear | Articulations = Incudomalleolar and incudostapedial joint | Pronunciation =
The incus (: incudes) or anvil in the ear is one of three small bones (ossicles) in the middle ear. The incus receives vibrations from the malleus, to which it is connected laterally, and transmits these to the stapes medially. The incus is named for its resemblance to an anvil ().
Structure
The incus is the second of three ossicles, very small bones in the middle ear which act to transmit sound. It is shaped like an anvil, and has a long and short crus extending from the body, which articulates with the malleus. The short crus attaches to the posterior ligament of the incus. The long crus articulates with the stapes at the lenticular process.
The superior ligament of the incus attaches at the body of the incus to the roof of the tympanic cavity.
The incus is homologous to the quadrate bone found in other tetrapods.
Function
Main article: Hearing
Vibrations in the middle ear are received via the tympanic membrane. The malleus, resting on the membrane, conveys vibrations to the incus. This in turn conveys vibrations to the stapes.
History
"Incus" means "anvil" in Latin. Several sources attribute the discovery of the incus to the anatomist and philosopher Alessandro Achillini. The first brief written description of the incus was by Berengario da Carpi in his Commentaria super anatomia Mundini (1521). Andreas Vesalius, in his De humani corporis fabrica, was the first to compare the second element of the ossicles to an anvil, thereby giving it the name incus. The final part of the long limb was once described as a "fourth ossicle" by Pieter Paaw in 1615.
Additional images
File:Illu auditory ossicles-en.svg|Ossicles File:Occipital bone dissection.jpg|Tympanic cavity. Facial canal. Internal carotid artery. File:Slide1ghe.JPG|Auditory ossicles. Tympanic cavity. Deep dissection. File:Slide2ghe2.JPG|Aditory ossicles. Incus and malleus. Deep dissection.
References
References
- {{EmbryologyUNC. hednk. 023
- Drake, Richard L.. (2005). "Gray's anatomy for students". Elsevier/Churchill Livingstone.
- (1994-09-07). "Transformation of the quadrate (incus) through the transition from non-mammalian cynodonts to mammals". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
- Alidosi, GNP. ''I dottori Bolognesi di teologia, filosofia, medicina e d'arti liberali dall'anno 1000 per tutto marzo del 1623'', Tebaldini, N., Bologna, 1623. http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k51029z/f35.image#
- Lind, L. R. ''Studies in pre-Vesalian anatomy. Biography, translations, documents'', American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, 1975. p.40
- Jacopo Berengario da Carpi,''Commentaria super anatomia Mundini'', Bologna, 1521. https://archive.org/details/ita-bnc-mag-00001056-001
- Andreas Vesalius, ''De humani corporis fabrica''. Johannes Oporinus, Basle, 1543.
- O'Malley, C.D. ''Andreas Vesalius of Brussels, 1514-1564.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 1964. p. 121
- Graboyes, Evan M.. (September 2011). "The Ossicle of Paaw". Otology & Neurotology.
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