# Incus > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Incus > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Incus.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incus > Source revision: 1292165527 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Bone of the middle ear}} {{Italic title}} {{About|ossicle||Incus Records|and|Cumulonimbus incus}} {{Infobox bone | Name = Incus | Latin = incus | Image = Gray917.png | Caption = Left incus. A. From within. B. From the front. | Image2 = Gray915.png | Caption2 = [Auditory tube](/source/Auditory_tube), laid open by a cut in its long axis. | Precursor = First [branchial arch](/source/branchial_arch){{EmbryologyUNC|hednk|023}} | PartOf = [Middle ear](/source/Middle_ear) | Articulations = [Incudomalleolar](/source/Incudomalleolar_joint) and [incudostapedial joint](/source/incudostapedial_joint) | Pronunciation = {{IPAc-en|'|I|N|k|@|s}} }} {{Ear series|expanded=Middle}} The '''''incus''''' ({{plural form}}: '''incudes''') or '''anvil''' in the [ear](/source/ear) is one of three small [bone](/source/bone)s ([ossicles](/source/ossicles)) in the [middle ear](/source/middle_ear). The incus receives vibrations from the [malleus](/source/malleus), to which it is connected laterally, and transmits these to the [stapes](/source/stapes) medially. The incus is named for its resemblance to an [anvil](/source/anvil) ({{langx|la|incus}}). ==Structure== {{See also|Ossicles}} The incus is the second of three [ossicles](/source/ossicles), very small bones in the [middle ear](/source/middle_ear) which act to transmit sound. It is shaped like an [anvil](/source/anvil), and has a long and short crus extending from the body, which articulates with the [malleus](/source/malleus).{{cite book |last=Drake|first=Richard L.|title=Gray's anatomy for students|year=2005|publisher=Elsevier/Churchill Livingstone |location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-8089-2306-0|author2=Vogl, Wayne |author3=Tibbitts, Adam W.M. Mitchell |author4=illustrations by Richard |author5= Richardson, Paul }}{{rp|862}} The short crus attaches to the [posterior ligament of the incus](/source/posterior_ligament_of_the_incus). The long crus articulates with the [stapes](/source/stapes) at the lenticular process. The [superior ligament of the incus](/source/superior_ligament_of_the_incus) attaches at the body of the incus to the roof of the [tympanic cavity](/source/tympanic_cavity). The incus is [homologous](/source/Homology_(biology)) to the [quadrate bone](/source/quadrate_bone) found in other tetrapods.{{Cite journal |last1=Luo |first1=Zhexi |last2=Crompton |first2=Alfred W. |date=1994-09-07 |title=Transformation of the quadrate (incus) through the transition from non-mammalian cynodonts to mammals |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.1994.10011564 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=341–374 |doi=10.1080/02724634.1994.10011564 |bibcode=1994JVPal..14..341L |issn=0272-4634|url-access=subscription }} ==Function== {{Main|Hearing}} Vibrations in the [middle ear](/source/middle_ear) are received via the [tympanic membrane](/source/tympanic_membrane). The malleus, resting on the membrane, conveys vibrations to the incus. This in turn conveys vibrations to the [stapes](/source/stapes). ==History== "Incus" means "anvil" in Latin. Several sources attribute the discovery of the incus to the anatomist and philosopher [Alessandro Achillini](/source/Alessandro_Achillini).Alidosi, GNP. ''I dottori Bolognesi di teologia, filosofia, medicina e d'arti liberali dall'anno 1000 per tutto marzo del 1623'', Tebaldini, N., Bologna, 1623. http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k51029z/f35.image#Lind, L. R. ''Studies in pre-Vesalian anatomy. Biography, translations, documents'', American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, 1975. p.40 The first brief written description of the ''incus'' was by [Berengario da Carpi](/source/Berengario_da_Carpi) in his ''Commentaria super anatomia Mundini'' (1521).Jacopo Berengario da Carpi,''Commentaria super anatomia Mundini'', Bologna, 1521. https://archive.org/details/ita-bnc-mag-00001056-001 [Andreas Vesalius](/source/Andreas_Vesalius), in his ''[De humani corporis fabrica](/source/De_humani_corporis_fabrica)'',Andreas Vesalius, ''De humani corporis fabrica''. Johannes Oporinus, Basle, 1543. was the first to compare the second element of the ossicles to an anvil, thereby giving it the name ''incus''.O'Malley, C.D. ''Andreas Vesalius of Brussels, 1514-1564.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 1964. p. 121 The final part of the long limb was once described as a "fourth ossicle" by [Pieter Paaw](/source/Pieter_Paaw) in 1615.{{cite journal|last=Graboyes|first=Evan M.|author2=Chole, Richard A. |author3=Hullar, Timothy E. |title=The Ossicle of Paaw|journal=Otology & Neurotology|date=September 2011|volume=32|issue=7|pages=1185–1188|doi=10.1097/MAO.0b013e31822a28df|pmc=3158805|pmid=21844785}} ==Additional images== File:Illu auditory ossicles-en.svg|Ossicles File:Occipital bone dissection.jpg|Tympanic cavity. Facial canal. Internal carotid artery. File:Slide1ghe.JPG|Auditory ossicles. Tympanic cavity. Deep dissection. File:Slide2ghe2.JPG|Aditory ossicles. Incus and malleus. Deep dissection. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926225617/http://www.anatomywiz.com/?Incus1 The Anatomy Wiz] ''Incus'' {{Auditory system}} {{HumanBones}} {{Tetrapod osteology}} {{Authority control}} Category:Bones of the head and neck Category:Auditory system Category:Ear Category:Ossicles Category:Otorhinolaryngology Category:Otology Category:Middle ear --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Incus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.