Muscle architecture for pennate muscles. Pennate muscles can be further divided into uni-, bi- or multipennate. Unipennate muscles are those where the muscle fibers are oriented at one fiber angle to the force-generating axis and are all on the same side of a tendon. The pennation angle in unipennate muscles has been measured at a variety of resting length and typically varies from 0° to 30°. The lateral gastrocnemius of wild turkeys is an example of this muscle architecture. Muscles that have fibers on two sides of a tendon are considered bipennate. The stapedius in the middle ear of humans, as well
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