Summary
Because our practical experience concerning the characteristic features of the peroneus III muscle disagreed with the usual statements and illustrations in anatomical text-books, we reexamined the gross anatomy of this muscle.
A total of 157 peroneus III muscles was present in 169 lower limbs. Thus, the absence of this muscle (in 7.1% of our specimens) should be considered the variation rather than its presence. Moreover, the peroneus III has an identity separate from that of the extensor digitorum longus, and frequently is as large as or even larger than the extensor digitorum longus. Thus, the origin of the peroneus III extends much more proximally than stated in most text-books. It is a semipennate muscle with a tibially sited tendon, and therefore resembles the fibular and distal part of the extensor digitorum. This part of the extensor digitorum overlaps the extensor hallucis longus and is in turn overlapped by the peroneus III. The more proximal and tibial part of the extensor digitorum is arranged in a slender belly with its fasciculi converging towards a centrally sited tendon of considerable length. The proximal part of the extensor digitorum longus gives rise to slips to the medial toes, and the distal part to the lateral toes. The attachment of the peroneus III tendon is usually trifurcate, with one projection towards the tubercle and the dorsolateral aspect of the fifth metatarsal bone, another to the dorsomedial border of the same metatarsal bone, and a third projection to the base of the fourth metatarsal bone. An accessory slip to the dorsal aponeurosis of the fifth toe was found to occur only rarely.
The usual description that the peroneus III is only a part of the extensor digitorum longus, or even its fifth tendon, should therefore be revised. The functional and evolutionary significance of this muscle is discussed, because the peroneus III occurs only in man, and in the gorilla alone of the anthropoid apes as well as of all other primates.
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Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Drs. h.c. mult. Paul A. Weiss, who enjoyed our reflections on the function of the peroneus III, and therefore stimulated this paper
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Krammer, E.B., Lischka, M.F. & Gruber, H. Gross anatomy and evolutionary significance of the human peroneus III. Anat Embryol 155, 291–302 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317642
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317642