• Question: what is the smallest bone in the human body?

    Asked by blondmoment to Jen, Stef on 22 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Stefan Piatek

      Stefan Piatek answered on 22 Mar 2013:

      Ooh good one, I’m pretty sure it’s one of the bones in your ears. They’re super small and have the bizarre name of ossicles. They’re 3 bones that transmit vibrations through your ear so that your inner ear gets those vibrations and you can hear!

      If you’ve ever done the thing with two cups and piece of string as a simple telephone, it’s pretty much like that!

    • Photo: Jennifer Paxton

      Jennifer Paxton answered on 22 Mar 2013:

      Yup, Stefan is right it is one of the 3 bones in the ear. There are 3 called the hammer, anvil and stirrup, cool names eh?! The stirrup (or stapes to give it its posh name!) is the smallest and is only about 0.3cm long in an adult human! So really tiny!

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