Coccygeus at a glance
- What it is
- A small muscle of the posterior pelvic floor.
- Location
- Origin: ischial spine and sacrospinous ligament. Insertion: lateral margins of the coccyx and lowest sacrum.
- Function
- Supports the pelvic floor and pulls the coccyx forward after defecation.
- Body system
- Muscular · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA46444 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Innervation: anterior rami of S4–S5
- Lies on the sacrospinous ligament
Structures next to the coccygeus
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Rectum · digestive
- Pubococcygeus · muscular
- Seminal vesicle · reproductive
- Internal iliac vein · cardiovascular
- Gluteus maximus · muscular
- Puborectalis · muscular
- External anal sphincter · muscular
- Sacrum · skeletal
- Obturator vein · cardiovascular
- Obturator internus · muscular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Coccygeus (FMA46444). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §11.2 Naming Skeletal Muscles. Rice University, 2022.
- Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
Related anatomy
Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.