Tragus (anatomy)

Tragus
The ear — lateral surface
Details
Identifiers
Latin	Tragus
TA	A15.3.01.017
FMA	60998
Anatomical terminology []

The tragus is a small pointed eminence of the external ear, situated in front of the concha, and projecting backward over the meatus. It also is the name of hair growing at the entrance of the ear. Its name comes from the Greek: tragos, goat, and is descriptive of its general covering on its under surface with a tuft of hair, resembling a goat's beard. The nearby antitragus projects forwards and upwards.

Because the tragus faces rearwards, it aids in collecting sounds from behind. These sounds are delayed more than sounds arriving from the front, assisting the brain to sense front vs. rear sound sources.

In a positive fistula test (for the presence of a fistula from cholesteatoma to the labyrinth), pressure on the tragus causes vertigo or eye deviation by inducing movement of perilymph.

Horizontal section through left ear; upper half of section.

External ear. Right auricle.Lateral view.

External ear. Right auricle.Lateral view.

The tragus is a key feature in many bat species. As a piece of skin in front of the ear canal, it plays an important role in directing sounds into the ear for prey location and navigation via echolocation.Because the tragus tends to be prominent in bats, it is an important feature in identifying bats to species.

The long tragus of the brown long-eared bat

The curved tragus of the eastern red bat

The blunt tragus of the spotted bat

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)