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→Anatomy
==Anatomy==
==Anatomy==
The lizard ear has auditory and vestibular functions. In many lizards the external ear is either absent or greatly reduced (in geckos and monitors) and most species have a superficial tympanum. The tympanic membrane is generally visible and covered with thin transparent skin which is also shed during ecdysis. In earless (''Holbrookia maculata'') and horned lizards, the membrane is covered with scaly skin.
The lizard ear has auditory and vestibular functions. In many lizards the external ear is either absent or greatly reduced (in [[Leopard Gecko|geckos]] and [[Monitor|monitors]]) and most species have a superficial tympanum. The tympanic membrane is generally visible and covered with thin transparent skin which is also shed during ecdysis. In earless (''Holbrookia maculata'') and horned lizards, the membrane is covered with scaly skin.
Iguanids have a tympanic membrane which is nearly contiguous to the surface of the skin whereas it is deeper and recessed in scincids (such as the blue-tongue skink) and agamids (such as the bearded dragon). Lizards have very sensitive ears with delicate eardrums, and, like frogs and birds, a single auditory ossicle, the columella, that is coupled to the eardrum through a cartilaginous extracolumella.
Iguanids have a tympanic membrane which is nearly contiguous to the surface of the skin whereas it is deeper and recessed in scincids (such as the blue-tongue skink) and agamids (such as the [[Bearded Dragon|bearded dragon]]). Lizards have very sensitive ears with delicate eardrums, and, like frogs and birds, a single auditory ossicle, the columella, that is coupled to the eardrum through a cartilaginous extracolumella.
===Middle Ear===
===Middle Ear===
The inner ear cavity comprises organs related to balance (the semicircular canals, utricle, and saccule) and hearing (cochlear duct). The cochlear duct and the saccule are both suspended in perilymphatic fluid; the cochlear is also filled with this fluid.
The inner ear cavity comprises organs related to balance (the semicircular canals, utricle, and saccule) and hearing (cochlear duct). The cochlear duct and the saccule are both suspended in perilymphatic fluid; the cochlear is also filled with this fluid.
==References==
==References==