Alligator Stapes

3D Model

The stapes (or columella) is the only ear ossicle in Alligator, as in all non-mammalian vertebrates. It is long and thin, and attaches to the small disc-shaped tympanum on the prootic deep within the external acoustic meatus. Near the its tympanic attachment, an additional element, the extracolumella, links the stapes to the eardrum. This is an embarrassingly bad, low resolution model of a stapes. Hopefully there are better versions out there.