image: The development of the mammalian middle ear is a two-step process. First, the future Eustachian tube, which connects the ear to the throat, ruptures. This allows the inclusion of the middle ear ossicles into a cavity but also allows cells to fill the tip of the Eustachian tube. Secondly, these cells then retract around the ossicles gradually resulting in an air-filled cavity. This image relates to a paper that appeared in the March 22, 2013, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by Hannah Thompson and Abigail S. Tucker at King's College London in London, UK, was titled, "Dual Origin of the Epithelium of the Mammalian Middle Ear." view more
Credit: [Image courtesy of Hannah Thompson]