title: The styloauricular muscle: clinical relevance and literature review of this rare muscle.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In humans, the styloauricularis is a rare muscle extending from the tragal cartilage of the auricle to the styloid process. When it contracts, by bearing on the styloid process, it increases the cephalo-auricular angle. It can be a landmark for the facial nerve. We report a case with bilateral presence of the styloauricularis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Bilateral presence of the styloauricularis was discovered during routine dissection of the head and neck.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the presented case, styloauricularis muscles arose from the cartilage of the external acoustic meatus on both sides of the head, crossing halfway along the facial nerve trunk and inserting the styloid process. Both muscles were vascularized by a branch of the posterior auricular artery, and innervated by the facial nerve.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ventral auricular muscle, formed by the auricular parotid and the styloauricular muscles, is a muscle that lowers and abducts the auricle in animals. There is generally considered to be no equivalent for these muscles in humans, however, this bilateral case reveals evidence to the contrary. There is a dearth of scientific literature about the styloauricularis. The study of this muscle demonstrated the usefulness of comparative anatomy in understanding its action in increasing the cephalo-auricular angle.
authors: Department of Maxillofacial Surgery (Head), CHI Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, 40 allée de la source, 94195, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges Cedex, France. gaoussou.toure@chiv.fr.|Research and Development Unit, Imaging and Anatomy (URDIA EA 4465), Université Paris Descartes, 45 rue des Saints-Pères, 75006, Paris, France. gaoussou.toure@chiv.fr.
authors: Gaoussou
authors: G
authors: Touré
authors: Department of Maxillofacial Surgery (Head), CHI Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, 40 allée de la source, 94195, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges Cedex, France.|Department of Stomatology and Maxillofacial Surgery, CHU de Treichville, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
authors: Evelyne
authors: E
authors: Anzouan-Kacou
mesh_terms: D063405:Anatomic Variation; D054644:Ear Auricle / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005152:Facial Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans
keywords: Auricular; Comparative anatomy; Facial nerve; Styloauricular muscle; Styloauricularis