# Building a Nonhuman Human >[!example] 22 Feb 2023 #blog %%[[a Mongolian gerbil has an ear structure like humans]]%% I recently read that a Mongolian gerbil has an ear structure like humans which means that using them in studies could help eventually help researchers to better understand a rare ear condition called superior semicircular canal dehiscence (SSCD).[^1] %%[[we may be able to construct an entire functioning nonhuman human from pieces of other species]]%% This led me back to a passage I read in the book Stiff by Mary Roach. She "got the impression that it would be possible to construct an entire functioning nonhuman human from pieces of other species."[^2] She says a pig's heart is a particularly close match to ours. The human knee most resembles the brown bear's. Our lungs are like that of a Goat. A Jersey cow (at about six months old) closely resembles our human brain. And according to Roach, "emu hips are dead ringers for human hips." With a combination like that Frankenstein's monster wouldn't look so bad after all! [^1]: %%[[(Rutgers University, 2023)]]%% Rutgers University, 17 Feb 2023. How the Mongolian gerbil may help speed recovery of a rare inner ear problem: Scientists develop testing model to enhance understanding of a condition known as “third window syndrome”. ScienceDaily. [LINK](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230217152312.htm) [^2]: %%[[Stiff by Mary Roach]]%% [Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers: Amazon.co.uk: Roach, Mary: 9780141007458: Books](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stiff-Curious-Lives-Human-Cadavers/dp/0141007451)