Quick Facts
Location: Tympanic cavity of the middle ear.
Bone Type: Irregular bone.
Key Features: Head, neck, base, and anterior and posterior limbs.
Articulates With: Incus.
Arterial Supply: Anterior tympanic and stylomastoid arteries.
Key Features & Anatomical Relations
The stapes is the smallest of the three auditory ossicles, the other two being the malleus and incus. It is a small, stirrup-like bone that is found in the tympanic cavity of the middle ear in the temporal bone. It is classified as an irregular bone and includes the following bony features:
- parts: head, neck, base, and anterior and posterior limbs;
- landmarks: articular facet of head of stapes.
More information regarding these bony features can be found in the Parts and Landmarks tabs for this bone.
The stapes is located posteromedial to the incus, articulates with the incus at the incudostapedial joint and attaches to the vestibular window of the labyrinthine wall.
Ossification
Ossification of the stapes occurs at one ossification center, which is found in its base and appears in utero during the fourth month. The stapes is fully developed by the time of birth (Standring, 2016).
List of Clinical Correlates
- Dislocation
- Incus ankylosis
- Cholesteatoma
References
Standring, S. (2016) Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice. Gray's Anatomy Series 41st edn.: Elsevier Limited.
Learn more about this topic from other Elsevier products
Stapes
The stapes is typically a slender columnar bone, and its cartilaginous tip, the extracolumella, has three or four processes that reach the tympanum.
