Muscle · Head

Auricularis anterior

Musculus auricularis anterior

The smallest and palest of the three muscles that move the external ear. It is a thin fan lying in front of the ear, running from the side edge of the tough tendon sheet over the skull forward to a small spur of cartilage at the front of the ear rim. In most people it is functionally vestigial — the human ear does not need to be aimed the way a cat's does — and the ability to twitch the ear with it is inconsistent across the population. It matters mainly as a landmark: it lies in the superficial fascial plane over the temple, immediately in front of the ear, and it is supplied by the same nerve as the rest of the face.