Redirect 3.5% of your income tax to support us!

The interactive dog atlas · Muscles · Hind limb

Quadriceps femoris musculus quadriceps femoris

The quadriceps is the muscle at the front of the thigh, from the pelvis and femur to the kneecap. It has four heads; all attach to the kneecap, which is linked to the tibia by a ligament.

Open in the interactive atlas Guide: Muscles Worksheet

Educational material, not a diagnostic tool. Written by the Mantrailing România team from veterinary sources we read. Updated 14.11.2026.

Dog in left lateral view — exterior, muscles, skeleton and organs Vector study after the Ellenberger, Baum and Dittrich plates: a standing dog, head to the left, deep chest and digitigrade limbs. The four layers use the same contour: exterior with body regions, superficial muscles, skeleton and organs.
Quadriceps femoris on the atlas drawing, "Muscles" layer. Left lateral view, after the Ellenberger, Baum and Dittrich plates.

Where it is

The front of the thigh, from the pelvis and femur to the patella.

Layer
Muscles
System
Muscles
Region
Hind limb

What it is and what it does

Four heads: the rectus femoris arises from the ilium, the three vasti from the femur. All insert on the patella, and the patella is linked to the tibial tuberosity by the patellar ligament. It extends the stifle; the rectus femoris also flexes the hip and is especially powerful in the greyhound.

Worth remembering

It extends the stifle; one of its heads also bends the hip.

Names

  • Latin term: musculus quadriceps femoris.
  • In Romanian: Cvadricepsul femural (Romanian page).

Guides it appears in

From the same region: Hind limb

All structures, in the atlas · Flashcards: muscles