Palatopharyngeus muscle

The palatopharyngeus (palatopharyngeal or pharyngopalatinus) muscle is a small muscle in the roof of the mouth.Cadaver dissection showing the palatopharyngeus muscle The palatopharyngeus (palatopharyngeal or pharyngopalatinus) muscle is a small muscle in the roof of the mouth. It is a long, fleshy fasciculus, narrower in the middle than at either end, forming, with the mucous membrane covering its surface, the palatopharyngeal arch. It is separated from the palatoglossus muscle by an angular interval, in which the palatine tonsil is lodged. It arises from the soft palate, where it is divided into two fasciculi by the levator veli palatini and musculus uvulae. Passing laterally and downward behind the palatine tonsil, the palatopharyngeus joins the stylopharyngeus and is inserted with that muscle into the posterior border of the thyroid cartilage, some of its fibers being lost on the side of the pharynx and others passing across the middle line posteriorly to decussate with the muscle of the opposite side.