Where it is
On the croup, above the hip, on the wing of the ilium.
- Layer
- Muscles
- System
- Muscles
- Region
- Hind limb
What it is and what it does
It arises from the gluteal surface and the crest of the ilium and inserts on the greater trochanter of the femur. It extends the hip joint, so it pushes the body forward; it also tends to rotate the femur with the stifle inward, a tendency counterbalanced by the caudal hip muscles.
Its origin is broad: the gluteal surface of the ilium, the iliac crest and both angles of the ilium; the nerve is the cranial gluteal. In the racing greyhound it weighs on average 120 g, and its lever arm at the hip is largest at full extension, that is exactly in the phase when the leg pushes the body forward.
Worth remembering
It extends the hip, so it pushes the body forward.
Names
- Latin term: musculus gluteus medius.
- In Romanian: Gluteul mijlociu (Romanian page).