Did our outer ears come from ancient fish gills?

Human outer ears may have evolved from the gills of prehistoric fish. Gene-editing experiments indicate that cartilage in fish gills migrated into the ear canal millions of years ago during the course of our evolution. Going even further back, our outer ears may have evolutionary roots in ancient marine invertebrates, such as horseshoe crabs. The new research sheds light on the mysterious origins of outer ears, which are unique to mammals. “When we started the project, the evolutionary origin of...