Muscles

• Muscles of the head

  • Forehead/eyelid muscles
  • Extraocular muscles
  • Ear muscles
  • Nose muscles
  • Mouth muscles
• Frontalis


  Muscle on the front of the forehead that raises the eyebrows and helps with facial expressions
• Occipitalis


  Muscle that covers the back part of the skull, the occipital region
• Occipitofrontalis


  Continuous muscle that includes the frontalis and occipitalis, connected by the Galea aponeurotica
• Orbicularis oculi


  Muscle that circles or orbits the eye, allowing you to close your eyelids
• Corrugator supercilii


  Muscle that furrows the eyebrows and makes an angry face
• Depressor supercilii


  Muscle that is smaller and tucked within the orbicularis oculi, helps move the eyebrows
• Extraocular muscles


  • Superior rectus oculi
  • Inferior rectus oculi
  • Medial rectus oculi
  • Lateral rectus oculi
  • Obliquus oculi superior
  • Obliquus oculi inferior
  • Levator palpebrae superioris
  • Superior tarsal muscle
• Rectus muscles


  Muscles that pull the eye in a straight line
• Oblique muscles


  Muscles that attach to the eye at slanted angles
• Levator palpebrae superioris


  Muscle that lifts the upper eyelid
• Superior tarsal muscle


  Muscle that hooks up to the base of the levator palpebrae to raise the upper eyelid
• Ear muscles


  • Auricularis anterior
  • Auricularis superior
  • Auricularis posterior
  • Stapedius
  • Tensor tympani
  • Temporoparietalis
• Auricularis muscles


  Muscles attached to the outer ear, with directional terms in their names
• Stapedius


  Smallest muscle in the body, stabilizes the stapes bone in the ear
• Tensor tympani


  Muscle that attaches the auditory tube to the malleus bone, protects the eardrum from loud noises
• Temporoparietalis


  Muscle that sits between the temporal and parietal regions of the skull and attaches to the ear
• Nose muscles


  • Transverse nasalis
  • Alar nasalis
  • Procerus
  • Depressor septi nasi
  • Levator labii superioris alaeque nasi
• Transverse nasalis


  Muscle that spans the width of the nose and compresses the nostrils
• Alar nasalis


  Muscle on the edges of the nose that dilates the nostrils
• Procerus


  Long, extended muscle on top of the nose
• Depressor septi nasi


  Muscle that depresses or pulls down the nasal septum
• Levator labii superioris alaeque nasi


  Muscle that lifts the upper lip and the wings of the nose
• Mouth muscles


  • Zygomaticus major
  • Zygomaticus minor
  • Levator labii superioris
  • Depressor labii inferioris
  • Levator anguli oris
  • Depressor anguli oris
  • Mentalis
  • Buccinator
• Zygomaticus major and minor

  Muscles that originate at the zygomatic arch and insert at the mouth, major is larger than minor
• Levator labii superioris


  Muscle that lifts the upper lip
• Depressor labii inferioris


  Muscle that pulls the bottom lip down
• Levator anguli oris


  Muscle that lifts the angle or corner of the mouth
• Depressor anguli oris


  Muscle that pulls the angle or corner of the mouth down
• Mentalis


  Pair of muscles on the chin
• Buccinator


  Main muscle of the cheek, connects the maxilla, mandible, and mouth, allows pushing air out of the mouth
• Levator labii superioris alaeque nasi muscle


  Translated from Latin, the "lifter of both the upper lip and of the wing of the nose"
• The levator labii superioris alaeque nasi muscle has the longest name of any muscle in an animal
• Procerus is Latin, meaning tall or extended
• Mentalis muscles


  A pair of muscles front and center on the chin
• Buccinator


  The main muscle of each cheek, connecting the maxilla, the mandible, and the mouth together
• The buccinator muscle is nicknamed the "trumpet muscle" because of its function of allowing us to push air out of our mouth when it's filled up
• Orbicularis oris


  The muscle that encircles the mouth
• Risorius


  A muscle that goes from the corner of the mouth to the zygomatic area, with a variable form
• Masseter


  The chewing muscle, connecting the skull to the jaw