Yes — through the bones in our heads. Believe it or not, you don’t actually need the outer and middle parts of your ear to hear sound, because you’re not technically “hearing” anything.

Researchers used powerful tech to analyse thousands of individual cells at once, considering which genes are active and how DNA is organised within each cell.

The eardrum then starts vibrating and these vibrations are passed to three small ear bones – called the hammer, anvil and stirrup. Many animals have ears that are able to detect ultrasound.

It is connected to one middle ear bone and the quadrate bone (green), which is part of the upper jaw. The schematic on the right shows these bones in a lizard with the primary jaw joint located ...