Superficial muscles of the vertebral region

The levator scapula muscle (French : Muscle élévateur de la scapula ; Latin : levator anguli scapulae) , named from its action in raising the posterior superior angle of the scapula, is a ribbon-shaped muscle.

The rhomboid (latin : Rhomboidei ; french: Muscles Rhomboïdes) named from their shape, which is rhomboidal, or like a parallelogram - are sometimes looked upon as a single muscle, but may be usually separated into the following : Rhomboid minor muscle and Rhomboid major muscle.

The latissimus dorsi (french : muscle grand dorsal) - named from its being the broadest of the back muscles - is a fan-shaped sheet forming a right-angled triangle, the right angle being contained between its upper and vertebral borders.

The trapezius (or cucullaris, as it has been called from its resemblance to a cowl = cucullus ; french : muscle trapèze) is named from τραπέζι, a table, on account of the four-sided figure formed by the muscles of the two sides. It is a fan-shaped sheet forming an obtuse-angled triangle, the long side of which corresponds with the spine.

The pectoralis minor (french: muscle petit pectoral) - named from its being the smaller of the two muscles which arise from the front of the chest - is a fan- shaped or triangular sheet, with its inner edge divided into three teeth.

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