Third plantar interosseous of foot at a glance
- What it is
- One of three plantar interossei, small muscles beneath the metatarsals in the fourth layer of the sole.
- Location
- Arises from the medial side of the fifth metatarsal and inserts onto the medial side of the base of the proximal phalanx of the fifth toe.
- Function
- Adducts the little toe toward the second toe and flexes the metatarsophalangeal joint.
- Body system
- Muscular · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA37741 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Innervation: lateral plantar nerve (S2–S3)
- Lies in the fourth layer of the sole; with abductor digiti minimi on the other side, it controls side-to-side movement of the little toe.
Structures next to the third plantar interosseous of foot
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Flexor digiti minimi brevis of foot · muscular
- Fourth lumbrical of foot · muscular
- Fourth metatarsal bone · skeletal
- Fifth metatarsal bone · skeletal
- Second plantar interosseous of foot · muscular
- Third lumbrical of foot · muscular
- Flexor digitorum brevis · muscular
- Third metatarsal bone · skeletal
- First plantar interosseous of foot · muscular
- Second lumbrical of foot · muscular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Third plantar interosseous of foot (FMA37741). 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.