Antitragicus

Antitragicus
The muscles of the ear (antitragicus visible at bottom center).
Details
Origin	Outer part of the antitragus
Insertion	Cauda helicis and antihelix
Artery	Auricular branch of superficial temporal and auricular branches of posterior auricular artery
Nerve	Facial nerve
Actions	Modifies the auricular shape
Identifiers
Latin	Musculus antitragicus
Dorlands /Elsevier	m_22/12548383
TA	A15.3.01.042
FMA	48980
Anatomical terms of muscle []

The Antitragicus is an intrinsic muscle of the outer ear.

In human anatomy, the antitragicus arises from the outer part of the antitragus, and is inserted into the cauda helicis (or tail of the helix) and antihelix.

The function of the muscle is to adjusts the shape of the ear by pulling the antitragus and cauda helicis towards each other. While the muscle modifies the auricular shape only minimally in the majority of individuals, this action could increase the opening into the external acoustic meatus in some.

The helicis minor is developmentally derived from the second pharyngeal arch.

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)