The ''Levatores costarum'' (), twelve in number on either side, are small tendinous and fleshy bundles, which arise from the ends of the transverse processes of the seventh
cervical
In anatomy, cervical is an adjective that has two meanings:
# of or pertaining to any neck.
# of or pertaining to the female cervix: i.e., the ''neck'' of the uterus.
*Commonly used medical phrases involving the neck are
**cervical collar
**cerv ...
and upper eleven
thoracic vertebrae
In vertebrates, thoracic vertebrae compose the middle segment of the vertebral column, between the cervical vertebrae and the lumbar vertebrae. In humans, there are twelve thoracic vertebrae and they are intermediate in size between the cervical ...
They pass obliquely downward and laterally, like the fibers of the
Intercostales externi, and each is inserted into the outer surface of the
rib immediately below the
vertebra
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates, Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristi ...
from which it takes origin, between the tubercle and the
angle
In Euclidean geometry, an angle is the figure formed by two rays, called the '' sides'' of the angle, sharing a common endpoint, called the '' vertex'' of the angle.
Angles formed by two rays lie in the plane that contains the rays. Angles a ...
(''Levatores costarum breves'').
Each of the four lower muscles divides into two fasciculi, one of which is inserted as above described; the other passes down to the second rib below its origin (''Levatores costarum longi'').
They have a role in
forceful inspiration.
See also
*
Iliocostalis
Iliocostalis muscle is the muscle immediately lateral to the longissimus that is the nearest to the furrow that separates the epaxial muscles from the hypaxial. It lies very deep to the fleshy portion of the serratus posterior muscle. It latera ...
*
Interspinales muscles
*
Intertransversarii muscle
*
Longissimus
The longissimus ( la, the longest one) is the muscle lateral to the semispinalis muscles. It is the longest subdivision of the erector spinae muscles that extends forward into the transverse processes of the posterior cervical vertebrae.
Structu ...
*
Spinalis
The spinalis is a portion of the erector spinae, a bundle of muscles and tendons, located nearest to the spine. It is divided into three parts: Spinalis dorsi, spinalis cervicis, and spinalis capitis.
Spinalis dorsi
Spinalis dorsi, the medial c ...
References
Back anatomy
Muscles of the torso
{{muscle-stub