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The pharynx (pl.: pharynges) is the part of the throat behind the mouth and nasal cavity, and above the esophagus and trachea (the tubes going down to the stomach and the lungs respectively). It is found in vertebrates and invertebrates, though its structure varies across species. The pharynx carries food to the esophagus and air to the larynx.
The pharyngeal muscles are a group of muscles that form the pharynx, which is posterior to the oral cavity, determining the shape of its lumen, and affecting its sound properties as the primary resonating cavity. The pharyngeal muscles (involuntary skeletal) push food into the esophagus.
The sites of origin of the muscles collectively are the pterygoid hamulus (and occasionally the adjoining posterior margin of the medial pterygoid plate) anteriorly, (the posterior margin of) the pterygomandibular raphe, the posterior extremity of the mylohyoid line of mandible, and (negligibly) the side of the tongue.
The stylopharyngeus is a long, slender, [1] [2] tapered pharyngeal muscle. [2] It is cylindrical superiorly, and flattened inferiorly. [1]It passes inferior-ward along the side of the pharynx [1] between the superior pharyngeal constrictor (situated deep to the stylopharyngeus) and the middle pharyngeal constrictor (situated superficial to the stylopharyngeus), [2] before spreads out beneath ...
From these origins, the fibers spread backward and medially to insert with the muscle of the opposite side into the fibrous pharyngeal raphe in the posterior median line of the pharynx. The thyropharyngeal part mainly uses type 2 fibres (anaerobic), while the cricopharyngeal part mainly uses type 1 fibres (aerobic). [2]
The palatopharyngeal arch (pharyngopalatine arch, posterior pillar of fauces) is larger and projects further toward the middle line than the palatoglossal arch; it runs downward, lateralward, and backward to the side of the pharynx, and is formed by the projection of the palatopharyngeal muscle, covered by mucous membrane.
The pharyngeal plexus is a nerve plexus located upon the outer surface of the pharynx. It contains a motor component (derived from the vagus nerve (cranial nerve X)), a sensory component (derived from the glossopharyngeal nerve (cranial nerve IX)), and sympathetic component (derived from the superior cervical ganglion). [1]
Some fish species have a second set of jaws in their throat, known as pharyngeal jaws, which develop using the same genetic pathways involved in oral jaw formation. [6] During embryonic development, a series of pharyngeal arch pairs form. These project forward from the back of the embryo toward the front of the face and neck.