The inferior longitudinal muscle of tongue is an intrinsic muscle of the

tongue The tongue is a muscular organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for mastication and swallowing as part of the digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surface (dorsum) is covered by taste b ...

. It is situated on the under surface of the

between the genioglossus and hyoglossus. It helps to move the tongue.

Structure

The inferior longitudinal muscle of the tongue is an

intrinsic muscle Anatomical terminology is used to uniquely describe aspects of skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle such as their actions, structure, size, and location. Types There are three types of muscle tissue in the body: skeletal, smooth, ...

of the

. It extends from the root to the apex of the tongue. Behind, some of its fibers are connected with the body of the

hyoid bone The hyoid bone (lingual bone or tongue-bone) () is a horseshoe-shaped bone situated in the anterior midline of the neck between the chin and the thyroid cartilage. At rest, it lies between the base of the mandible and the third cervical ver ...

. In front, it blends with the fibers of

styloglossus The styloglossus, the shortest and smallest of the three styloid muscles, arises from the anterior and lateral surfaces of the styloid process near its apex, and from the stylomandibular ligament. Passing inferiorly and anteriorly between the int ...

Nerve supply

The inferior longitudinal muscle of the tongue is supplied by the hypoglossal nerve (CN XII).

Function

The inferior longitudinal muscle of the tongue moves the

. Movement of material through the pharynx is dependent upon the coordinated activity of the longitudinal and smooth muscle of the gut.

Additional images

File:Musculuslongitudinalisinferiorlinguae.png

References

Muscles of the head and neck Tongue {{muscle-stub