// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did prootic say to its date? You're a proto-type.
The prootic (spelled proötic in some older works) is a bone of the skull that participates in the otic capsule; along with the opisthotic and epiotic, it encloses the inner ear.[1]
Function
[edit]The prootic forms the anterior part of the otic capsule; together with the other periotic bones it encloses the bony labyrinth, which allows for hearing and balance.[2]
Evolution
[edit]The prootic, as with other bones of the otic capsule, is a part of the vertebrate chondrocranium. The otic capsule is believed to have been present in the ancestor of modern vertebrates;[3] however, as early vertebrates lacked endochondral bone, the prootic was not present. Ossification of the otic capsule, and therefore the first appearance of the prootic, occurred in early members of the clade osteicthyes.[2]
In teleost fishes, the prootic articulates with the epiotic and the sphenotic to form the otic capsule.[4]
In amphibians and sauropsids, the prootic articulates with the opisthotic to form the otic capsule.[4] In mammals, it fuses with the opisthotic and the epiotic to form the petrosal; as the petrosal in humans is fused with the squamosal and tympanic to form the temporal bone, the prootic forms part of the petrous part of the temporal bone.[5]
References
[edit]- ↑ Huxley, Thomas Henry (1864). Lectures on the elements of comparative anatomy: On the classification of animals and on the vertebrate skull. London: J. Churchill.
- 1 2 Clack, Jennifer A. (2016), "Vertebrate Diversity in a Sensory System: The Fossil Record of Otic Evolution", in Clack, Jennifer A.; Fay, Richard R; Popper, Arthur N. (eds.), Evolution of the Vertebrate Ear : Evidence from the Fossil Record, Springer Handbook of Auditory Research, vol. 59, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–16, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-46661-3_1, ISBN 978-3-319-46661-3, retrieved 2026-07-20
- ↑ Higuchi, Shinnosuke; Sugahara, Fumiaki; Pascual-Anaya, Juan; Takagi, Wataru; Oisi, Yasuhiro; Kuratani, Shigeru (January 2019). "Inner ear development in cyclostomes and evolution of the vertebrate semicircular canals". Nature. 565 (7739): 347–350. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0782-y. hdl:10630/33079. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 30518864.
- 1 2 Kardong, Kenneth (2015). Vertebrates: Comparative Anatomy, Function (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
- ↑ Thomas, Lyell J. (1926). "Ossification centers in the petrosal bone of the mouse". The Anatomical Record. 33 (2): 59–68. doi:10.1002/ar.1090330202. ISSN 1097-0185.