Most Things Biology

The Bouncer: Elastic Cartilage

THE IN-BETWEENERS  ◆  ISSUE #08  ◆  SERIES II: THE CARTILAGE DIVISION

Tattoo-flash honey badger, The Bouncer, filled with lavender cartilage matrix, chondrocytes in lacunae, and dark branching elastic fibers; an anvil pins its tail.

The Bouncer

Elastic cartilage  ·  he / him

“Bend me. I don’t care.”

POWER: Bends any direction and snaps straight back. Forever.

WEAKNESS: Could not hold up a coffee cup. Zero load-bearing ability.

FIBERS: Elastic fibers, packed right through the matrix.

SECRET IDENTITY: Your outer ear, and the flap that guards your windpipe.

Elastic cartilage is the bendy cartilage. Deform him and he snaps back to his original shape. Grab the cartilage of your ear and twist it: that’s him.

Bend Him Any Way. He Will Not Be Changed.

Where he lives, what he does, and the one thing he can’t do

Where he lives

  • The external ear (pinna)
  • The epiglottis in the larynx
  • Parts of the auditory (Eustachian) tube

His powers

  • Flexibility and resilience: bends and returns without permanent distortion
  • Still gives support to the structures he forms
  • Flips the epiglottis down so food goes down the right pipe

His weakness

He is built to bend, not to bear weight.

And like all cartilage, he gets fed by diffusion only, so he heals slowly.

Every weakness is the structure.

Basically the Glider With Extra Accessories

Hyaline cartilage, plus a lot of springs

The crew: cells

Chondrocytes in lacunae, just like the other cartilages. They make and maintain the matrix.

The fibers

Dominated by elastic fibers (elastin) fixed in the matrix between the chondrocytes. They look scratch-like: pink with H&E, blackish with special stains.

The matrix

Water, proteoglycans, GAGs, and lots of elastic fibers. The fibers take up so much space that the ground substance is hard to see. He’s basically hyaline cartilage with a bunch of elastic fibers between the cells.

Scratchy Filter on Every Pic

Real slides. Find him in every one.

ID HINT: Chondrocytes in lacunae, sitting in a scratchy, dense fiber background.

Exhibit A

Microscopic view of elastic cartilage tissue stained with Masson Trichrome. Numerous chondrocytes, the cells responsible for cartilage production and maintenance, appear embedded within roundish spaces called lacunae. The extracellular matrix surrounding the cells is stained blue, and the nuclei of the cells are visible as small, darker areas. The tissue shows the characteristic flexibility and resilience of elastic cartilage due to elastic fibers in the matrix.
Ear pinna, aldehyde fuchsin and Masson (slide 044).

Exhibit B

Histological slide of elastic cartilage, likely from the epiglottis. Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining highlights cell structures and extracellular matrix. Pink staining indicates the extracellular matrix, containing collagen fibers and elastic fibers. Round or oval chondrocytes, with distinct nuclei, occupy lightly colored lacunae. Overall composition is a dense network of stained fibers and cellular structures.
Epiglottis, H&E, 20X (slide 044H).

Micrographs: University of Michigan Histology, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

Histological slide of elastic cartilage, likely from the epiglottis. Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining highlights cell structures and extracellular matrix. Pink staining indicates the extracellular matrix, containing collagen fibers and elastic fibers. Round or oval chondrocytes, with distinct nuclei, occupy lightly colored lacunae. Overall composition is a dense network of stained fibers and cellular structures.

Stalk Their Actual Profile

Drive the microscope yourself

Virtual slide: epiglottis

The purple tab on the right opens a panel with information and links.

Open the slide full screen

Prove You Were Actually Paying Attention

Prove you can spot him

Mission 1: Discover the features of elastic cartilage

Videos Nobody Asked You to Watch (Watch Them)

Tired of Explaining Which One He Is

Students confuse him with these two. Here’s how to tell.

The Glider

Tattoo-flash swallow, The Glider, filled with pale lavender hyaline cartilage matrix and chondrocytes in lacunae, rimmed in pink perichondrium; one wing is splinted and a first-aid kit hangs padlocked.

Hyaline cartilage. Same cells in lacunae, but her matrix is smooth glass. His is scratchy with fibers.

High magnification microscopic image of hyaline cartilage within the trachea. The dominant purple matrix contains chondrocytes, small cells appearing encapsulated in circular or oval lacunae that vary in darkness and internal detail. The overall composition is dense, showcasing fine cellular structure.
Hyaline cartilage micro structure. Cartilage cells present in a clear, glossy matrix.

The Snapback

Tattoo-flash snake, The Snapback, in H&E pinks threading through three rings of cartilage, bone, and elastic artery wall, with a red burst marking an aneurysm bulge.

Elastic connective tissue. Also full of elastic fibers, but no lacunae and no chondrocytes. The names are what trip people up.

Microscopic image of Elastic Connective Tissue (stained with Verhoeff's). Composition features a dense network of dark purple fibers intermingled with red collagen bundles. The image is evenly lit revealing texture and fiber arrangement. Shows connective tissue components with clear structural details.
Elastic connective tissue fibers stained with Verhoeff’s stain and red stain under a microscope.
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