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Taenia libera: anatomy, location and function

The taenia libera is one of the three longitudinal bands of smooth muscle on the colon (taeniae coli). The taeniae coli gather the colon wall to form its sacculations (haustra) and provide longitudinal muscle tone.

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Highlighted in the model: Taenia libera. 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.

Taenia libera at a glance

What it is
The taenia libera is one of the three longitudinal bands of smooth muscle on the colon (taeniae coli).
Location
It runs along the anterior surface of the cecum and the ascending, descending and sigmoid colon. On the transverse colon it lies on the inferior surface.
Function
The taeniae coli gather the colon wall to form its sacculations (haustra) and provide longitudinal muscle tone.
Body system
Digestive · single, midline structure
FMA ID
FMA15044 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • The three taeniae are libera, mesocolica and omentalis.
  • They converge at the base of the appendix.

Structures next to the taenia libera

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

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Taenia libera (FMA15044). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §23.1 Overview of the Digestive System. 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.

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.