rectus abdominis muscle

The rectus abdominis muscle is a paired muscle running vertically on each side of the anterior wall of the abdomen. There are two parallel sets of muscles, separated by a midline band of connective tissue called the linea alba (white line). It extends from the pubic symphysis/pubic crest inferiorly to the xiphisternum/xiphoid process and lower costal cartilages (5-7) superiorly. It is contained in the Rectus sheath. The rectus is usually crossed by three fibrous bands licked by the tendinous inscriptions. [WP,modified]. Every claim on this page comes from the Leumas anatomy graph and carries its source.

What the rectus abdominis muscle is

The rectus abdominis muscle is a paired muscle running vertically on each side of the anterior wall of the abdomen. There are two parallel sets of muscles, separated by a midline band of connective tissue called the linea alba (white line). It extends from the pubic symphysis/pubic crest inferiorly to the xiphisternum/xiphoid process and lower costal cartilages (5-7) superiorly. It is contained in the Rectus sheath. The rectus is usually crossed by three fibrous bands licked by the tendinous inscriptions. [WP,modified]. The atlas records it as a muscle at the organ scale in the human body.

Where the rectus abdominis muscle is

It sits in the abdomen and trunk, within the muscular system. Positioned deliberately as part of this species body plan.

What the rectus abdominis muscle connects to

The atlas records 8 typed relationships for it, across 5 kinds of connection. part of anterior abdominal wall and skeletal muscle of trunk.

Supply and innervation

This dataset asserts no arterial supply, venous drainage or innervation for the rectus abdominis muscle. Only a minority of structures carry those edges here, so an empty answer means nothing has been recorded — not that there is nothing to record.

Also called

Also recorded as m. rectus abdominis, musculus rectus abdominis and rectus abdominis. Searching any of those names reaches this page.

Source

Uberon multi-species anatomy ontology (Mungall et al.), CC BY 4.0. Term UBERON:0002382, version 2026-06-19, retrieved 2026-08-24. Licence: CC-BY-4.0.

• Part of: anterior abdominal wall and skeletal muscle of trunk.
• A kind of: anatomical structure, anterior abdominal wall muscle and musculature of trunk.
• inserts into: sternum.
• originates from: pelvic girdle skeleton.
• contains: skeletal muscle tissue of rectus abdominis.

Questions

Where is the rectus abdominis muscle?

It sits in the abdomen and trunk, within the muscular system. Positioned deliberately as part of this species body plan.

What does the rectus abdominis muscle connect to?

Part of: anterior abdominal wall and skeletal muscle of trunk.

Is the rectus abdominis muscle the same in other species?

Leumas holds the same relationship vocabulary for every species it carries, so where another dataset records this structure you can put the two side by side on /compare.