A new study describes a type of cartilage that may have been discovered, forgotten and found again at several points in history.

Currently, several surgeons build a replacement ear using cartilage removed from a child ... US produced grafts that offer “well-defined anatomy and the correct biomechanical properties ...

Hyaline cartilage helps bones slide smoothly over each other at the joints; elastic cartilage is very flexible and found in the external ear ... to histology and anatomy textbooks." ...