The ectotympanic offers a reduced attachment area for the tympanic membrane. |
In pakicetids, the ectotympanic has already overgrown, giving rise to a large bulla surrounding the petrosal. |
The pad passes anteriorly into the greatly enlarged mandibular foramen to reach in under the teeth and posteriorly to reach the thin lateral wall of the ectotympanic. |
There is, however, an ectotympanic, and the pterygoids and alisphenoids are swollen, forming a sort of inflated bullae. |