The Helicis minor (musculus helicis minor or smaller muscle of helix) is a small

skeletal A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fram ...

muscle Muscle is a soft tissue, one of the four basic types of animal tissue. There are three types of muscle tissue in vertebrates: skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle. Muscle tissue gives skeletal muscles the ability to muscle contra ...

. The helicis minor is an intrinsic muscle of the

outer ear The outer ear, external ear, or auris externa is the external part of the ear, which consists of the auricle (also pinna) and the ear canal. It gathers sound energy and focuses it on the eardrum ( tympanic membrane). Structure Auricle The ...

. The muscle runs obliques and covers the helical crus, part of the

helix A helix (; ) is a shape like a cylindrical coil spring or the thread of a machine screw. It is a type of smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is for ...

located just above the tragus. The helicis minor originates from the base of the helical crus, runs obliques and inserts at the anterior aspect of the helical crus where it curves upward above the tragus. The function of the muscle is to assist in adjusting the shape of the anterior margin of the ear cartilage. While this is a potential action in some individuals, in the majority of individuals the muscle modifies auricular shape to a minimal degree. The helicis minor is developmentally derived from the

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

pharyngeal arch The pharyngeal arches, also known as visceral arches'','' are transient structures seen in the Animal embryonic development, embryonic development of humans and other vertebrates, that are recognisable precursors for many structures. In fish, t ...

It seem that only in

primates Primates is an order of mammals, which is further divided into the strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and lorisids; and the haplorhines, which include tarsiers and simians ( monkeys and apes). Primates arose 74–63 ...

is the

helicis major The helicis major (or large muscle of helix) is an intrinsic muscle of the outer ear. In human anatomy, it is the form of a narrow vertical band situated upon the anterior margin of the helix, at the point where the helix becomes transverse. It ...

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