Plural of earstone; multiple small mineral structures in fish ears that function in hearing and balance, vital to fish sensory systems.
From 'ear' plus 'stone' plus the plural '-s'. These structures appear in fish fossils dating back hundreds of millions of years, making them one of the oldest sensory organs.
Earstonees are so perfectly shaped and dense that when a fish dies, they sink to the ocean bottom and become part of sediment—scientists literally dig through ocean mud to find ancient earstonees to study prehistoric fish populations.
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