The ear is the organ that detects sound. It not only receives sound, but also aids in balance and body position. The ear is part of the auditory system.
Often the entire organ is considered the ear, though it may also be considered just the visible portion. In most mammals, the visible ear is a flap of tissue that is also called the pinna (or auricle in humans) and is the first of many steps in hearing. Vertebrates have a pair of ears placed somewhat symmetrically on opposite sides of the head. This arrangement aids in the ability to localize sound sources.
Read more about Ear: Introduction To Ears and Hearing, Mammalian Ear, Vestigial Structures, Invertebrate Hearing Organs
Famous quotes containing the word ear:
“Essential truth, the truth of the intellectualists, the truth with no one thinking it, is like the coat that fits tho no one has ever tried it on, like the music that no ear has listened to. It is less real, not more real, than the verified article; and to attribute a superior degree of glory to it seems little more than a piece of perverse abstraction-worship.”
—William James (1842–1910)
“Honest plain words best pierce the ear of grief.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“His ear is so sensitively attuned to the bugle note of history that he is often deaf to the more raucous clamour of contemporary life.”
—Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960)