Auricle
Auricula
Sensory (eye & ear)SkinHeadLeft and right
View left in 3D View right in 3D
- What it is
- The visible outer ear: a plate of elastic cartilage covered by thin skin and folded into the curled helix rim, the inner antihelix ridge, the deep concha bowl that funnels into the ear canal, the small tragus flap in front and the soft, cartilage-free lobule below.
- Function
- Collects sound and, through its folds, filters it in a direction-dependent way that helps locate sounds above, below and behind the head.
- Size
- About 62 mm tall and 35 mm wide; stands off the head at 20-30 degrees; cartilage 0.5-1 mm thick.
- Clinical note
- The auricle keeps growing slowly throughout life (about 0.2 mm a year), which is why ears look larger in old age. A blow that strips the perichondrium off the cartilage causes a haematoma that scars into a "cauliflower ear".