Popliteus muscle the ankle. The gastrocnemius muscle acts on both joints. It originates from the lateral surface of the lateral condyle of femur by a rounded tendon, the fibers pass downward and medially and give insertion to the posterior surface of tibia, above the soleal line. The muscle arises within the capsule of knee joint and its tendon separates the lateral meniscus from the lateral ligament of the joint. Nerve supply is via the tibial nerve from spinal roots L5 and S1. There is sometimes an additional head from the sesamoid bone in the lateral (outer) head of the gastrocnemius muscle. Rarely
Stapedius muscle Stapedius muscle The stapedius is the smallest skeletal muscle in the human body. At just over one millimeter in length, its purpose is to stabilize the smallest bone in the body, the stapes. The stapedius emerges from a pinpoint foramen in the apex of the pyramidal eminence (a hollow, cone-shaped prominence in the posterior wall of the tympanic cavity), and inserts into the neck of the stapes. The stapedius is supplied by the nerve to stapedius, a branch of the facial nerve. The stapedius dampens the vibrations of the stapes by pulling on the neck of that bone. It prevents