The human earlobe (lobulus auriculae), the lower portion of the outer ear, is composed of tough areolar and adipose connective tissues, lacking the firmness and elasticity of the rest of the auricle (the external structure of the ear). In some cases the lower lobe is connected to the side of the face. Since the earlobe does not contain cartilage[1] it has a large blood supply and may help to warm the ears and maintain balance. However, earlobes are not generally considered to have any major biological function.[2] The earlobe contains many nerve endings, and for some people is an erogenous zone.
The zoologist Desmond Morris in his book The Naked Ape (1967) conjectured that the lobes developed as an additional erogenous zone to facilitate the extended sexuality necessary in the evolution of human monogamous pair bonding.[3]
A free earlobe
An attached earlobe
^Steinberg, Avraham (2003). Encyclopedia of Jewish Medical Ethics: a Compilation of Jewish Medical Law on All Topics of Medical Interest. Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers. p. 350. ISBN 1583305920.
^Popelka (31 August 1999). "Re:Why do we have earlobes, what are they for, since when?". MadSci Network. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
^Desmond Morris The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal (Hardback: ISBN 0-07-043174-4; Reprint: ISBN 0-385-33430-3) Jonathan Cape, 1967 . Chapter 2, page 59 of Corgi paperback ed
The human earlobe (lobulus auriculae), the lower portion of the outer ear, is composed of tough areolar and adipose connective tissues, lacking the firmness...
earring is a piece of jewelry attached to the ear via a piercing in the earlobe or another external part of the ear (except in the case of clip earrings...
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diversity of the earlobes found among men, women, and children, some earlobes are large, some earlobes are pendulous, and some earlobes are large and pendulous...
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a piercing gun or an ear-piercing gun) is a device designed to pierce earlobes by driving a pointed starter stud through the lobe. Piercing guns are typically...
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(4): 247–54. PMID 7187238. McKusick, Victor A.; Lopez, A (30 July 2010). "Earlobe Attachment, Attached vs. Unattached". Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man...
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Kidney wires pass through the earlobe and hook onto themselves and form a closed loop. French loops pass through the earlobe but do not fasten at the back...
(4): 247–54. PMID 7187238. McKusick, Victor A.; Lopez, A (30 July 2010). "Earlobe Attachment, Attached vs. Unattached". Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man...
was said to have emerged as a grown man with a full grey beard and long earlobes, both symbols of wisdom and long life. Other myths state that he was reborn...
saw Van Gogh after the bandages were removed, maintained that only the earlobe had been removed. According to Doiteau and Leroy, the diagonal cut removed...
linear grooved depressions on her skull; her assailant had slit her left earlobe and her body also bore deep cuts from a sharp weapon. On March 15, 100...
a large tattoo of a pierced heart. Her smallest tattoo was on her left earlobe and consisted of an arrow pointing to her left over the symbol of an eye...
punished person must squat, loop their arms behind their knees and hold their earlobes. The word murga means "chicken" or "rooster", and the name reflects how...
two others of similar size and weight, pulling down and stretching the earlobe considerably. The remarkable semi-abstract design actually incorporates...
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