The Balance Rocks
The ossicles â the tiniest bones in your body
Deep inside each ear, behind your eardrum, live the three smallest bones in your whole body â together they'd fit on a fingernail. Named after tools: a hammer, an anvil, and a stirrup.
The three ossicles of the middle ear
Real anatomy picture coming soon
Real anatomy photo spot: malleus, incus and stapes â the tiniest bones in the body
Meet the tiny trio
Malleus â The Hammer
Attached to the eardrum. When sound hits the drum, the hammer starts vibrating first.
Turning whispers into thunder
These little rocks amplify the sound vibrations about 20 times before passing them to your inner ear. Without them, the world would be almost silent! That's how a tiny insect-sized relay team lets you hear a whisper across the room.
Mr. Bones says: I'm a fictional skeleton, not a doctor! This is for learning and fun. If anything hurts, stop and tell a grown-up you trust.
