And we estimate that a shift to tympanic hearing in our lineage likely occurred in early cynodonts (8/n)

...meaning the tympanic membrane was the most sensitive conductor of sound for Thrinaxodon (6/n)

We found that the tympanic membrane transmitted the most sound pressure... (5/n)

By doing this we could capture the middle ear biomechanics of a 250 million year old animal! (4/n)

Here we used FEA to test how effective various potential sound receivers on the mandibular middle ear of a generalized cynodont like Thrinaxodon could be (3/n)

Our middle ear evolved from the jaw joint of our earlier synapsid ancestors. How did our ancestors hear with an ear rigidly attached to the jaw? (2/n)