What is the name of the middle ear bone in frogs?

The middle ear bone in frogs is called the columella. It is a slender auditory ossicle that helps transmit vibrations from the tympanum, or eardrum, toward the inner ear.

When sound reaches a frog’s tympanum, the membrane vibrates. The columella carries those vibrations across the middle-ear cavity to the inner-ear region, where sensory cells convert them into nerve signals. A cartilaginous structure called the extracolumella links the columella to the tympanum and helps transfer the membrane’s movement.

The columella is evolutionarily related to the stapes, one of the three middle-ear bones in mammals. That is why some anatomical sources describe the frog’s structure as a stapes or stapes-like bone, but “columella” is the standard answer for frogs. Frogs also possess an operculum associated with the inner ear, so the columella should not be confused with every bony element involved in hearing.