Evolution of mammalian auditory ossicles

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The evolution of mammalian auditory ossicles was an evolutionary process that resulted in the formation of the bones of the mammalian middle ear. These bones, or ossicles, are a defining characteristic of all mammals. The event is well-documented [1] and important [2] [3] as a demonstration of transitional forms and exaptation, the re-purposing of existing structures during evolution. [4]

Contents

The ossicles evolved from skull bones present in most tetrapods, including the reptilian lineage. The reptilian quadrate bone, articular bone, and columella evolved into the mammalian incus, malleus, and stapes (anvil, hammer, and stirrup), respectively.

In reptiles, the eardrum is connected to the inner ear via a single bone, the columella, while the upper and lower jaws contain several bones not found in mammals. Over the course of the evolution of mammals, one bone from the lower and one from the upper jaw (the articular and quadrate bones) lost their function in the jaw joint and migrated to the middle ear. The shortened columella connected to these bones within the middle ear to form a chain of three bones, the ossicles, which serve to effectively transmit air-based vibrations and facilitate more acute hearing.

History

Following on the ideas of Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1818), and studies by Johann Friedrich Meckel the Younger (1820), Carl Gustav Carus (1818), Martin Rathke (1825), and Karl Ernst von Baer (1828), [5] the relationship between the reptilian jaw bones and mammalian middle-ear bones was first established on the basis of embryology and comparative anatomy by Karl Bogislaus Reichert (in 1837, before the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859). These ideas were advanced by Ernst Gaupp, [6] and are now known as the Reichert–Gaupp theory. [7] [8]

The discovery of the link in homology between the reptilian jaw joint and mammalian malleus and incus is considered an important milestone in the history of comparative anatomy. [9] Work on extinct theromorphs by Owen (1845), and continued by Seeley, Broom, and Watson, was pivotal in discovering the intermediate steps to this change. [10] The transition between the "reptilian" jaw and the "mammalian" middle ear was not bridged in the fossil record until the 1950s [11] with the elaboration of such fossils as the now-famous Morganucodon . [12]

During embryonic development, the incus and malleus arise from the same first pharyngeal arch as the mandible and maxilla, and are served by mandibular and maxillary division of the trigeminal nerve. [13] Recent genetic studies are able to relate the development of the ossicles from the embryonic arch [14] to hypothesized evolutionary history. [15] Bapx1, also known as Nkx3.2 (a member of the NK2 class of homeobox genes), [16] is implicated in the change from the jaw bones of non-mammals to the ossicles of mammals. [17] [18] Other implicated genes include the Dlx genes, Prx genes, and Wnt genes. [19]

A typical mammalian middle ear: sound makes the tympanum (eardrum) vibrate; 3 small bones, the malleus, incus and stapes, transmit the vibrations to the labyrinth (inner ear), which transforms the vibrations into nerve signals. Mammal middle ear.pngLabyrinth
A typical mammalian middle ear: sound makes the tympanum (eardrum) vibrate; 3 small bones, the malleus, incus and stapes, transmit the vibrations to the labyrinth (inner ear), which transforms the vibrations into nerve signals.

Defining characteristic of mammals

Living mammal species can be identified by the presence in females of mammary glands which produce milk. Other features are required when classifying fossils, since mammary glands and other soft-tissue features are not visible in fossils. Paleontologists therefore use the ossicles as distinguishing bony features shared by all living mammals (including monotremes), but not present in any of the early Triassic therapsids ("mammal-like reptiles").

Upper and lower portions of a python skull, displaying multiple bony components of the upper and lower jaws. Courtesy of the Peabody Museum of Natural History; Division of Vertebrate Zoology; Yale University. Python bivittatus Kuhl, 1820.jpg
Upper and lower portions of a python skull, displaying multiple bony components of the upper and lower jaws. Courtesy of the Peabody Museum of Natural History; Division of Vertebrate Zoology; Yale University.

Early amniotes had a jaw joint composed of the articular (a small bone at the back of the lower jaw) and the quadrate (a small bone at the back of the upper jaw). All non-mammalian amniotes use this system including lizards, crocodilians, dinosaurs (and their descendants the birds) and therapsids; so the only ossicle in their middle ears is the stapes. The mammalian jaw joint is composed of different skull bones, including the dentary (the lower jaw bone which carries the teeth) and the squamosal (another small skull bone). In mammals, the quadrate and articular bones have evolved into the incus and malleus bones in the middle ear. [20] [21]

The mammalian middle ear contains three tiny bones known as the ossicles: malleus, incus, and stapes. The ossicles are a complex system of levers whose functions include: reducing the amplitude of the vibrations; increasing the mechanical force of vibrations; and thus improving the efficient transmission of sound energy from the eardrum to the inner ear structures. The ossicles act as the mechanical analog of an electrical transformer, matching the mechanical impedance of vibrations in air to vibrations in the liquid of the cochlea. The net effect of this impedance matching is to greatly increase the overall sensitivity and upper frequency limits of mammalian hearing, as compared to reptilian hearing. The details of these structures and their effects vary noticeably between different mammal species, even when the species are as closely related as humans and chimpanzees. [22]

Phylogeny

The following simplified cladogram displays relationships between tetrapods:

Tetrapods
Amphibians

Lithobates pipiens.jpg

Reptiliomorphs
Amniotes
Sauropsids

Douthat State Park - Eastern fence lizard - 08.jpg

Synapsids
other synapsids

Ennatosaurus BW.jpg

Eupelycosaurs

other eupelycosaurs Edaphosaurus NT small.jpg

Therapsids

other therapsids Struthiocephalus DB.jpg

Mammals Lemur catta white background.jpg

The first fully terrestrial vertebrates were amniotes, which developed in eggs with internal membranes which allowed the developing embryo to breathe but kept water in. The first amniotes arose in the late Carboniferous from the ancestral reptiliomorphs (a group of amphibians whose only living descendants are amniotes). Within a few million years two important amniote lineages became distinct: the synapsid ancestors of mammals, and the sauropsids ancestors of lizards, snakes, crocodilians, dinosaurs and birds. [23]

The evolution of mammalian jaw joints and ears did not occur simultaneously with the evolution of other mammalian features. In other words, jaw joints and ears do not define any except the most recent groups of mammals.

Mammalian and non-mammalian jaws. In the mammal configuration, the quadrate and articular bones are much smaller and form part of the middle ear. Note that in mammals the lower jaw consists of only the dentary bone. Jaw joint - mammal n non-mammal.png
Mammalian and non-mammalian jaws. In the mammal configuration, the quadrate and articular bones are much smaller and form part of the middle ear. Note that in mammals the lower jaw consists of only the dentary bone.

Early tetrapod and amniote ears

In modern amniotes (including mammals), the middle ear collects airborne sounds through an eardrum and transmits vibrations to the inner ear via thin cartilaginous and ossified structures. These structures usually include the stapes (a stirrup-shaped auditory ossicle).

Early tetrapods likely did not possess eardrums. Eardrums appear to have evolved independently three to six times. [25] [26] In basal members of the 3 major clades of amniotes (synapsids, eureptiles, and parareptiles) the stapes bones are relatively massive props that support the braincase, and this function prevents them from being used as part of the hearing system. However, there is increasing evidence that synapsids, eureptiles and parareptiles developed eardrums connected to the inner ear by stapes during the Permian. [27]

Early therapsid jaws and ears

The jaws of early synapsids, including the ancestors of mammals, were similar to those of other tetrapods of the time, with a lower jaw consisting of a tooth-bearing dentary bone and several smaller posterior bones. The jaw joint consisted of the articular bone in the lower jaw and the quadrate in the upper jaw. The early pelycosaurs (late Carboniferous and early Permian) likely did not have tympanic membranes (external eardrums). Additionally, their massive stapes bones supported the braincase, with the lower ends resting on the quadrates. Their descendants, the therapsids (including mammalian ancestors), probably had tympanic membranes in contact with the quadrate bones. The stapes remained in contact with the quadrate bone, but functioned as auditory ossicles rather than supports for the brain case. As a result, the quadrate bones of therapsids likely had a dual function in both the jaw joint and auditory system. [28] [29]

Twin-jointed jaws

Morganucodontidae and other transitional forms had both types of jaw joint: dentary-squamosal (front) and articular-quadrate (rear). Jaw joint - double.png
Morganucodontidae and other transitional forms had both types of jaw joint: dentary-squamosal (front) and articular-quadrate (rear).

During the Permian and early Triassic the dentary of therapsids, including the ancestors of mammals, continually enlarged while other jaw bones were reduced. [30]

Eventually, the dentary bone evolved to make contact with the squamosal, a bone in the upper jaw located anterior to the quadrate, allowing two simultaneous jaw joints: [31] an anterior "mammalian" joint between the dentary and squamosal and a posterior "reptilian" joint between the quadrate and articular. This "twin-jointed jaw" can be seen in late cynodonts and early mammaliforms. [32] Morganucodon is one of the first discovered and most thoroughly studied of the mammaliforms, since an unusually large number of morganucodont fossils have been found. It is an example of a nearly perfect evolutionary intermediate between the mammal-like reptiles and extant reptiles. [33]

Early mammals

The earliest mammals were generally small animals, and were likely nocturnal insectivores. This suggests a plausible source of evolutionary pressure: with these small bones in the middle ear, a mammal has extended its range of hearing for higher-pitched sounds which would improve the detection of insects in the dark. [34]

The evidence that the malleus and incus are homologous to the reptilian articular and quadrate was originally embryological, and since this discovery an abundance of transitional fossils has both supported the conclusion and given a detailed history of the transition. [35] The evolution of the stapes (from the columella) was an earlier and distinct event. [36] [37]

Fossil evidence for mammal-like jaws and ears

As the dentary bone of the lower jaw continued to enlarge during the Triassic, the older quadrate-articular joint fell out of use. Some of the bones were lost, but the quadrate, the articular, and the angular bones became free-floating and associated with the stapes. This occurred at least twice in the mammaliformes. The multituberculates had jaw joints that consisted of only the dentary and squamosal bones, and the quadrate and articular bones were part of the middle ear. Other features of their teeth, jaws and skulls are significantly different from those of mammals. [21] [38]

Hadrocodium

In the lineage most closely related to mammals, the jaws of Hadrocodium (about 195M years ago in the very early Jurassic) suggest that it may have been the first to have a nearly fully mammalian middle ear: it lacks the trough at the rear of the lower jaw, over which the eardrum stretched in therapsids and earlier mammaliformes. The absence of this trough suggests that Hadrocodium’s ear was part of the cranium, as it is in mammals, and that the former articular and quadrate had migrated to the middle ear and become the malleus and incus. Hadrocodium’s dentary has a "bay" at the rear which mammals lack, a hint that the dentary bone retained the same shape as if the articular and quadrate had remained part of the jaw joint. [39] However, several studies have cast doubt on whether Hadrocodium did indeed possess a definitive mammalian middle ear; Hadrocodium likely had an ossified connection between the middle ear and the jaw, which is not visible in the fossil evidence due to limited preservation. [40] [41] Researchers now hypothesize that the definitive mammalian middle ear did not emerge any earlier than the late Jurassic (~163M years ago). [41]

Teinolophos

It has been suggested that a relatively large trough in the jaw bone of the early Cretaceous monotreme Teinolophos provides evidence of a pre-mammalian jaw joint, because therapsids and many mammaliforms had such troughs in which the articular and angular bones "docked". Thus, Teinolophos had a pre-mammalian middle ear, indicating that the mammalian middle ear ossicles evolved independently in monotremes and in other mammals. [42] A more recent analysis of Teinolophos concluded that the trough was a channel for the large vibration and electrical sensory nerves terminating in the bill (a defining feature of the modern platypus). Thus, the trough is not evidence that Teinolophos had a pre-mammalian jaw joint and a pre-mammalian middle ear. [43]

Yanoconodon

A recently discovered intermediate form is the primitive mammal Yanoconodon , which lived approximately 125 million years ago in the Mesozoic era. In Yanoconodon the ossicles have separated from the jaw and serve the hearing function in the middle ear, yet maintain a slender connection to the jaw via the ossified Meckel's cartilage. [44] [41] Maintaining a connection via the ossified Meckel's cartilage may have been evolutionary advantageous since the auditory ossicles were not connected to the cranium in Yanoconodon (as they are in extant mammals), and required structural support via Meckel's cartilage. [45]

Effects on hearing

The frequency range and sensitivity of the ear is dependent on the shape and arrangement of the middle-ear bones. In the reptilian lineage, hearing depends on the conduction of low-frequency vibrations through the ground or bony structures (such as the columella). By modifying the articular bone, quadrate bone, and columella into small ossicles, mammals were able to hear a wider range of high-frequency airborne vibrations. [46] Hearing within mammals is further aided by a tympanum in the outer ear and newly evolved cochlea in the inner ear.

See also

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle ear</span> Portion of the ear internal to the eardrum, and external to the oval window of the inner ear

    The middle ear is the portion of the ear medial to the eardrum, and distal to the oval window of the cochlea.

    The ossicles are three bones in either middle ear that are among the smallest bones in the human body. They serve to transmit sounds from the air to the fluid-filled labyrinth (cochlea). The absence of the auditory ossicles would constitute a moderate-to-severe hearing loss. The term "ossicle" literally means "tiny bone". Though the term may refer to any small bone throughout the body, it typically refers to the malleus, incus, and stapes of the middle ear.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Incus</span> Bone in the middle ear

    The incus or anvil is a bone in the middle ear. The anvil-shaped small bone is one of three 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 so-called because of its resemblance to an anvil.

    <i>Stapes</i> Bone in the middle ear

    The stapes or stirrup is a bone in the middle ear of humans and other animals which is involved in the conduction of sound vibrations to the inner ear. This bone is connected to the oval window by its annular ligament, which allows the footplate to transmit sound energy through the oval window into the inner ear. The stapes is the smallest and lightest bone in the human body, and is so-called because of its resemblance to a stirrup.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Synapsid</span> Clade of tetrapods

    Synapsids are one of the two major clades of vertebrate animals in the group Amniota, the other being the sauropsids. The synapsids were the dominant land animals in the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic, but the only group that survived into the Cenozoic are mammals. Unlike other amniotes, synapsids have a single temporal fenestra, an opening low in the skull roof behind each eye orbit, leaving a bony arch beneath each; this accounts for their name. The distinctive temporal fenestra developed about 318 million years ago during the Late Carboniferous period, when synapsids and sauropsids diverged, but was subsequently merged with the orbit in early mammals.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaw</span> Opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth

    The jaws are a pair of opposable articulated structures at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term jaws is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth and serving to open and close it and is part of the body plan of humans and most animals.

    <i>Probainognathus</i> Extinct genus of cynodonts

    Probainognathus meaning “progressive jaw” is an extinct genus of cynodonts that lived around 235 to 221.5 million years ago, during the Late Triassic in what is now Argentina. Together with the genus Bonacynodon from Brazil, Probainognathus forms the family Probainognathidae. Probainognathus was a relatively small, carnivorous or insectivorous cynodont. Like all cynodonts, it was a relative of mammals, and it possessed several mammal-like features. Like some other cynodonts, Probainognathus had a double jaw joint, which not only included the quadrate and articular bones like in more basal synapsids, but also the squamosal and surangular bones. A joint between the dentary and squamosal bones, as seen in modern mammals, was however absent in Probainognathus.

    The angular is a large bone in the lower jaw (mandible) of amphibians and reptiles, which is connected to all other lower jaw bones: the dentary, the splenial, the suprangular, and the articular. It is homologous to the tympanic bone in mammals, due to the incorporation of several jaw bones into the mammalian middle ear early in mammal evolution.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Quadrate bone</span> Skull bone

    The quadrate bone is a skull bone in most tetrapods, including amphibians, sauropsids, and early synapsids.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Articular bone</span>

    The articular bone is part of the lower jaw of most vertebrates, including most jawed fish, amphibians, birds and various kinds of reptiles, as well as ancestral mammals.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Squamosal bone</span> Skull bone in most reptiles, amphibians and birds

    The squamosal is a skull bone found in most reptiles, amphibians, and birds. In fishes, it is also called the pterotic bone.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolution of mammals</span> Derivation of mammals from a synapsid precursor, and the adaptive radiation of mammal species

    The evolution of mammals has passed through many stages since the first appearance of their synapsid ancestors in the Pennsylvanian sub-period of the late Carboniferous period. By the mid-Triassic, there were many synapsid species that looked like mammals. The lineage leading to today's mammals split up in the Jurassic; synapsids from this period include Dryolestes, more closely related to extant placentals and marsupials than to monotremes, as well as Ambondro, more closely related to monotremes. Later on, the eutherian and metatherian lineages separated; the metatherians are the animals more closely related to the marsupials, while the eutherians are those more closely related to the placentals. Since Juramaia, the earliest known eutherian, lived 160 million years ago in the Jurassic, this divergence must have occurred in the same period.

    Diarthrognathus is an extinct genus of tritheledontid cynodonts, known from fossil evidence found in South Africa and first described in 1958 by A.W. Crompton. The creature lived during the Early Jurassic period, about 200 million years ago. It was carnivorous and small, slightly smaller than Thrinaxodon, which was under 50 centimetres (20 in) long.

    The splanchnocranium is the portion of the cranium that is derived from pharyngeal arches. Splanchno indicates to the gut because the face forms around the mouth, which is an end of the gut. The splanchnocranium consists of cartilage and endochondral bone. In mammals, the splanchnocranium comprises the three ear ossicles, as well as the alisphenoid, the styloid process, the hyoid apparatus, and the thyroid cartilage.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Morganucodonta</span> Extinct order of mammaliaforms

    Morganucodonta is an extinct order of basal Mammaliaformes, a group including crown-group mammals (Mammalia) and their close relatives. Their remains have been found in Southern Africa, Western Europe, North America, India and China. The morganucodontans were probably insectivorous and nocturnal, though like eutriconodonts some species attained large sizes and were carnivorous. Nocturnality is believed to have evolved in the earliest mammals in the Triassic as a specialisation that allowed them to exploit a safer, night-time niche, while most larger predators were likely to have been active during the day.

    <i>Glanosuchus</i> Extinct genus of therapsids

    Glanosuchus is a genus of scylacosaurid therocephalian from the Late Permian of South Africa. The type species G. macrops was named by Robert Broom in 1904. Glanosuchus had a middle ear structure that was intermediate between that of early therapsids and mammals. Ridges in the nasal cavity of Glanosuchus suggest it had an at least partially endothermic metabolism similar to modern mammals.

    <i>Kawingasaurus</i> Extinct genus of dicynodonts

    Kawingasaurus is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the Late Permian Usili Formation of Tanzania. It is a member of the family Cistecephalidae, and like other cistecephalids it is thought to have been fossorial. It is a member of the family Cistecephalidae. Cistephalidae includes genera Cisteceohalus, Cistecephaloides and Kawingasaurus. Greek for Saurus meaning “lizard” appears as a suffix denoting a reptilian origin. Living between 254.17 and 259.9 million years ago in the late Permian and believed to have the first and last recorded appearance in this time period. It lived in deep burrows as a suggested by most burrowing dicynodonts from evaluation of cranial sutures, vestibule inflation and enlarged stapes foot plates which are thought to be functionally correlated with bone-conduction hearing; all observed in fossorial vertebrates which use seismic signals as communication.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Columella (auditory system)</span> Bony structures in the skull that serve the purpose of transmitting sounds

    In the auditory system, the columella contributes to hearing in amphibians, reptiles and birds. The columella form thin, bony structures in the interior of the skull and serve the purpose of transmitting sounds from the eardrum. It is an evolutionary homolog of the stapes, one of the auditory ossicles in mammals.

    The postdentary trough is a skeletal feature seen in Mesozoic mammals. It is found on the inside of the lower jaw (dentary), at the back behind the molar teeth. It is the hollow in which the postdentary bones and Meckel's cartilage sit. These bones form the middle ear in later mammal groups ; they include the incus (quadrate), malleus (articular), ectotympanic (angular) and prearticular.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Malleus</span> Hammer-shaped small bone of the middle ear

    The malleus, or hammer, is a hammer-shaped small bone or ossicle of the middle ear. It connects with the incus, and is attached to the inner surface of the eardrum. The word is Latin for 'hammer' or 'mallet'. It transmits the sound vibrations from the eardrum to the incus (anvil).

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