Name

# Teres Minor

Pronunciation

(TE-rez MIN-or)

Origin/Proximal Attachment

Middle 1/3 of the scapula’s posterior surface & lateral border

Insertion/Distal Attachment

Lowest facet of the greater tubercle of the humerus

Capsule of the shoulder joint

Action/Relevance

Externally rotates the arm

Stabilizes glenohumeral joint

Innervation

Lower subscapular nerve (C5, 6)

Notes

The Teres minor is a narrow, elongated muscle, which arises from the dorsal surface of the axillary border of the scapula for the upper two-thirds of its extent, and from two aponeurotic laminæ, one of which separates it from the Infraspinatus, the other from the Teres major. Its fibers run obliquely upward and lateralward; the upper ones end in a tendon which is inserted into the lowest of the three impressions on the greater tubercle of the humerus; the lowest fibers are inserted directly into the humerus immediately below this impression. The tendon of this muscle passes across, and is united with, the posterior part of the capsule of the shoulder-joint.