part of part of ear dorsolateral placode otic placode With the exception of the pigment cells of the stria vascularis and the secretory epithelium of the cochlea, which are of neural crest origin, all compo- nents of the inner ear derive from the otic placode. In most species the thickening of the ectoderm into a placode occurs in a region adjacent to rhombomere 5 (reviewed in Ohyama et al., 2007), while in amphibians the otic placode is centered onto rhombomere 4 (Ruiz i Altaba and Jessell, 1991). EHDAA:506 UBERON:0003069 octaval placode EHDAA2:0001339 octaval VIII placode XAO:0000223 auditory placode ear placode UMLS:C1518677 FMA:293973 ear/otic placode NCIT:C34239 A cranial placode which, once specified, invaginates to form an otic cup, which eventually separates from the surface ectoderm to form the otic vesicle or otocyst, a rounded structure without appar- ent polarity. As the otic placode invaginates into a cup neuroblasts delaminate from the anterior ventral aspect of the otic epithelium to give rise to neurons of the vestibulocochlear (statoacoustic) ganglion of cranial nerve VIII[NBK]. EMAPA:16195 Wikipedia:Otic_placode We conclude this section by listing some of the many synapomorphies of craniates, including (...) (2) neurogenic placodes (...).[well established][VHOG] VHOG:0000235 AAO:0011079 ZFA:0000138 Primordium of the ear epithelium before it hollows into the otic vesicle, present beside the hindbrain rudiment in the midsegmentation period. Kimmel et al, 1995. (Also see Anatomical Atlas entry for ear by T. Whitfield.)[TAO] EFO:0003429 placoda otica TAO:0000138