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The Auriculares muscles are the three muscles surrounding the auricula
or outer ear.
The Auricularis anterior (Attrahens aurem),the smallest of the three,
is thin and fan-shaped, and its fibers are pale and indistinct. It arises
from the lateral edge of the galea aponeurotica, and its fibers converge
to be inserted into a projection on the front of the helix.
The Auricularis superior (Attolens aurem),the largest of the three, is
also thin and fan-shaped. Its fibers arise from the galea aponeurotica,
and converge to be inserted by a thin, flattened tendon into the upper
part of the cranial surface of the auricula.
The Auricularis posterior (Retrahens aurem) consists of two or three
fleshy fasciculi, which arise from the mastoid portion of the temporal
bone by short aponeurotic fibers. They are inserted into the lower part
of the cranial surface of the concha.
In other animals these muscles serve to swivel the auricula to point
in the direction of interesting sounds; in humans all they can manage
is a feeble wiggle.
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