Muscle · Neck

Thyroepiglottic

Musculus thyroepiglotticus

The uppermost and most lateral fibres of the thyroarytenoid, which instead of stopping at the arytenoid carry on upwards and backwards into the fold of mucosa at the edge of the epiglottis. Because they run to the rim of the laryngeal opening rather than to a moving cartilage, their pull widens that opening — spreading the entrance to the airway. It is best understood not as a separate muscle but as the part of the thyroarytenoid sheet that reached the epiglottis, and in many people the two cannot be cleanly separated. Its action is on the shape of a mucosal rim, which is why no joint motion is listed for it.