Teres minor at a glance
- What it is
- A rotator cuff muscle on the lateral scapula.
- Location
- Originates from the upper two thirds of the lateral border of the scapula and inserts onto the inferior facet of the greater tubercle of the humerus.
- Function
- Laterally rotates the arm and stabilizes the humeral head.
- Body system
- Muscular · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA32553 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Innervation: axillary nerve (C5–C6)
- Blood supply: circumflex scapular and posterior circumflex humeral arteries
- It forms the upper border of the quadrangular and triangular spaces of the shoulder.
Structures next to the teres minor
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Spinal part of deltoid · muscular
- Infraspinatus muscle · muscular
- Circumflex scapular artery · cardiovascular
- Subscapularis · muscular
- Scapula · skeletal
- Teres major · muscular
- Thoracodorsal artery · cardiovascular
- Posterior circumflex humeral artery · cardiovascular
- Coracobrachialis · muscular
- Subscapular artery · cardiovascular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Teres minor (FMA32553). 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.