Stylohyoid muscle greater cornu, and just superior the omohyoid muscle. It thus belongs to the group of suprahyoid muscles. When contracted, it elevates the hyoid, this action is primarily brought about during swallowing. It is perforated, near its insertion, by the intermediate tendon of the digastric muscle. A branch from the extracranial path of the facial nerve (CN VII) innervates the Stylohyoid muscle. It may be absent or doubled, lie beneath the carotid artery, or be inserted into the omohyoid, or mylohyoid muscles. The stylohyoid muscle elevates and retracts hyoid bone.Initiates a swallowing action by pulling the hyoid bone in a posterior
Stapedius muscle of the facial nerve, the stapedius is paralyzed and hyperacusis may result. Like the stapes bone to which it attaches, the stapedius muscle shares evolutionary history with other vertebrate structures. The mammalian stapedius evolved from a muscle called the depressor mandibulae in other tetrapods, the function of which was to open the jaws (this function was taken over by the digastric muscle in mammals). The depressor mandibulae arose from the levator operculi in bony fish, and is equivalent to the epihyoidean in sharks. Like the stapedius, all of these muscles derive from the hyoid arch and are innervated by cranial