This paper introduces an improved ear recognition approach based on 3 dimensional keypoint matching and combining local and holistic features. At first, the 3D keypoints are detected using the shape index image. The system consists of four primary steps: i) ear image segmentation; ii) local feature extraction and matching; iii) holistic feature extraction and matching; and iv) combination of local and holistic features at the match score level. For the segmentation purpose, we use an efficient skin segmentation algorithm, to localize a rectangular region containing the ear. For the local feature extraction and representation purpose, we use the Sparse Representation based Localized Feature Extraction. For the holistic matching component, we introduce a voxelization scheme for holistic ear representation. The match scores obtained from both the local and holistic matching components are combined to generate the final match scores.