Outer ear
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| Outer ear | |
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| External and middle ear, opened from the front. Right side. | |
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| The auricula. Lateral surface. | |
| Gray's | subject #229 1033 |
| MeSH | External+Ear |
The outer ear is the external portion of the ear.
[edit] Pinna, or auricle
The visible part is called the pinna and functions to collect and focus sound waves. Many mammals can move the pinna (with the auriculares muscles) in order to focus their hearing in a certain direction in much the same way that they can turn their eyes. Humans, unlike most other mammals, do not have this ability.
[edit] Ear canal, or external auditory meatus
From the pinna the sound pressure waves move into the ear canal, a simple tube running to the middle ear. This tube amplifies frequencies in the range 3 kHz to 12 kHz.
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