Flexor digitorum longus muscle
| Musculus flexor digitorum longus (humans) Musculus flexor digitorum medialis (animals) |
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| Flexor digitorum longus muscle of man |
| origin |
| Posterior surface of the tibia |
| approach |
| Base of the end links of the 2nd - 5th toe End links of all supporting toes (animals) |
| function |
| Flexion of the outer four toes, plantar flexion (extension) of the ankle |
| Innervation |
| Tibial nerve (branch of the sciatic nerve ) |
| Spinal segments |
| L5-S2 |
The flexor digitorum longus muscle ( Latin for "long toe flexor") is a skeletal muscle and one of the toe flexor muscles on the lower leg . The muscle initially ends in a single tendon that passes through the tarsal tunnel and only divides into four end tendons in the sole of the foot.
In animals, the muscle is called the flexor digitorum medialis muscle . Its tendon connects with those of the other heads of the deep toe flexor ( flexor digitorum lateralis and tibialis caudalis muscles ) to form the deep flexor tendon . Depending on the number of supporting toes, this is again divided into a corresponding number of legs and inserted into their end link.
function
The flexor digitorum longus muscle bends the four outer toes down, and it is also involved in the plantar flexion (bending down) of the foot.
In animals, the "plantar flexion" of the ankle corresponds to a stretching of the same.