Baby Born With Ears Under Its Chin

Birth defects are quite common around the
world, some more than others. Every once in a
while we see one that just catches our
attention and makes us think back to whether
or not we've seen it before. In this case, it
appears to be a rare deformity that caused a
baby born with ears under its chin. The image,
taken from the popular photo site Imgur shows
a newborn baby who was born with a few
cranial birth defects, such as a deformed
mouth and jawline, but more prominently the
placement of the ears stands out.
The placement of the ears in this case is
somewhat reminiscent of where gills would be
on an aquatic animal, or fish. Perhaps they
simply failed to migrate to the side of the head
after they were formed. In the first trimester of
pregnancy, the ears form along the jaw line
out of cartilage. At some point during the
second trimester the ears typically migrate to
their correct place on the side of the head.
This is the normal process that appears to
have failed during the second trimester, which
resulted in the low placement of the ears as
well as the deformed jaw line. The Mayo Clinic
states that by 18 weeks of gestation, a fetus
should be able to hear, as well as have fully
formed ears.
In the case of the child in this picture, it is not
known if the child was born prematurely or if it
survived post-birth. Details about when and
where this child were born are still unclear, as
not much information appears to be public
aside from this picture.