The external expanded part of the ear characterized by a funnel-shaped structure through which the sound vibrations are received. [Dorian_AF, Elsevier's_encyclopaedic_dictionary_of_medicine, Part_B:_Anatomy_(1988)_Amsterdam_etc.:_Elsevier][VHOG]

The purpose of the pinna is to collect sound. It does so by acting as a funnel, amplifying the sound and directing it to the ear canal. While reflecting from the pinna, sound also goes through a filtering process which adds directional information to the sound (see sound localization, head-related transfer function, pinna notch).

uberon

Mammals have a third type of tympanic ear. An external flap, the auricle or pinna, helps funnel sound waves down the external acoustic meatus to the tympanic membrane.[well established][VHOG]

UBERON:0001757

http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/uberon.owl

In various species, the pinna can also signal mood and radiate heat

• pinna defect after burn PKPM
• infectious disorder in pinna PKDM
• granuloma in pinna PKPM
• other specified acquired deformity of pinna DP
• pinna perichondritis PKPM