Anatomy study note · Lower limb

Popliteus

A deep muscle on the back of the knee that unlocks the extended knee.

Key points

• Lateral femoral condyle → back of the tibia.
• Tibial nerve.
• Unlocks the knee (lateral rotation of the femur).
• Limb muscles: in situ from limb-bud mesenchyme.
• Upper limb bud C4–T2; lower limb bud L2–S2.
• Skeletal muscle: multinucleated, peripheral nuclei, striated.
• Epimysium → perimysium → endomysium.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Origin · Insertion · Action · Nerve supply · Histology · Development

Sign in free to see it on the 3D model, read the full note and practise questions on it.

Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 11, PDF pp. 1357, 1404
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 7, PDF p. 109; ch. 10, PDF pp. 142–145
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 8, PDF pp. 135–144

More from the lower limb

• Posterior cutaneous nerve of the thigh
• Posterior tibial artery
• Profunda femoris artery
• Quadriceps femoris
• Retinacula of the ankle
• Saphenous nerve
• Sartorius
• Sciatic nerve
• Semimembranosus
• Semitendinosus
• Short lateral rotators of the hip
• Small saphenous vein

Privacy policy · Designed by DATXOC LLC.