triceps surae in dogs
The triceps surae is a pair of muscles located at the calf - the gastrocnemius and the soleus. These muscles both insert into the calcaneus, the bone of the heel of the human foot, and form the major part of the muscle of the back part of the lower leg, commonly known as the calf muscle. The triceps surae is connected to the foot through the Achilles tendon, and has 3 heads deriving from the 2 major masses of muscle. The superficial portion (the gastrocnemius) gives off 2 heads attaching to the base of the femur directly above the knee. The deep (profundis) mass of muscle (the soleus) forms the remaining head which attaches to the superior posterior area of the tibia. The triceps surae is innervated by the tibial nerve, specifically, nerve roots L5-S2. [WP,unvetted]. Every claim on this page comes from the Leumas anatomy graph and carries its source.
What the triceps surae is
The triceps surae is a pair of muscles located at the calf - the gastrocnemius and the soleus. These muscles both insert into the calcaneus, the bone of the heel of the human foot, and form the major part of the muscle of the back part of the lower leg, commonly known as the calf muscle. The triceps surae is connected to the foot through the Achilles tendon, and has 3 heads deriving from the 2 major masses of muscle. The superficial portion (the gastrocnemius) gives off 2 heads attaching to the base of the femur directly above the knee. The deep (profundis) mass of muscle (the soleus) forms the remaining head which attaches to the superior posterior area of the tibia. The triceps surae is innervated by the tibial nerve, specifically, nerve roots L5-S2. [WP,unvetted]. The atlas records it as a muscle at the organ scale in the dog.
Where the triceps surae is
It sits in the hindlimb, within the muscular system. Only the region is known. The position shown is somewhere plausible inside it and nothing more.
What the triceps surae connects to
The atlas records 8 typed relationships for it, across 6 kinds of connection. part of hindlimb zeugopod.
Supply and innervation
Venous drainage: vein of hindlimb zeugopod. Innervation: tibial nerve.
Also called
Also recorded as calf muscle, gastrosoleus, gastrosoleus complex, musculus triceps surae and sural triceps. Searching any of those names reaches this page.
Source
Uberon multi-species anatomy ontology (Mungall et al.), CC BY 4.0. Term UBERON:0001665, version 2026-06-19, retrieved 2026-08-24. Licence: CC-BY-4.0.
- Part of: hindlimb zeugopod.
- A kind of: hindlimb zeugopod muscle.
- inserts into: calcaneal tendon and calcaneus.
- contains: calcaneal tendon and gastrocnemius.
- Innervated by: tibial nerve.
- Drained by: vein of hindlimb zeugopod.
Questions
Where is the triceps surae?
It sits in the hindlimb, within the muscular system. Only the region is known. The position shown is somewhere plausible inside it and nothing more.
What does the triceps surae connect to?
Part of: hindlimb zeugopod.
Is the triceps surae the same in other species?
This page describes the dog. The human record of the same structure sits beside it on /compare, over one shared model rather than two atlases built separately.