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Flexor hallucis longus: anatomy, location and function

A deep posterior leg muscle that bends the great toe, running beneath the sustentaculum tali. Flexes the great toe and helps plantarflex the ankle, supporting push-off in walking.

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Highlighted in the model: Flexor hallucis longus. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

Flexor hallucis longus at a glance

What it is
A deep posterior leg muscle that bends the great toe, running beneath the sustentaculum tali.
Location
Origin: inferior two-thirds of the posterior fibula and interosseous membrane. Insertion: base of the distal phalanx of the great toe.
Function
Flexes the great toe and helps plantarflex the ankle, supporting push-off in walking.
Body system
Muscular · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA65014 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • Innervation: tibial nerve (S2–S3)
  • Blood supply: fibular and posterior tibial arteries

Structures next to the flexor hallucis longus

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Flexor hallucis longus (FMA65014). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §11.2 Naming Skeletal Muscles. Rice University, 2022.
  3. 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.