• 20 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Facial Muscles Quiz

Name the muscles that move the face, then the ones that chew.

Facial Muscles Quiz

Name Date

Tap the zygomaticus minor

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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Frontalis (frontal belly of occipitofrontalis)
  2. Corrugator supercilii
  3. Procerus
  4. Orbicularis oculi
  5. Nasalis
  6. Levator labii superioris
  7. Zygomaticus minor
  8. Zygomaticus major (smiling muscle)
  9. Risorius
  10. Orbicularis oris
  11. Depressor anguli oris
  12. Depressor labii inferioris
  13. Mentalis
  14. Platysma
  15. Epicranial aponeurosis
  16. Occipitalis (occipital belly of occipitofrontalis)
  17. Temporalis
  18. Masseter (chewing muscle)
  19. Buccinator
  20. Sternocleidomastoid

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: the muscles of the whole body, front and back

All 20 parts on the diagram

Show the list

Front view 14

  1. Frontalis (frontal belly of occipitofrontalis) The belly of the occipitofrontalis on the forehead. It raises the eyebrows, as in a look of surprise.
  2. Corrugator supercilii A small muscle that lies behind the ring muscle of the eye. It draws the eyebrows together and makes upright wrinkles between them, as in a frown.
  3. Procerus It wrinkles the bridge of the nose. It runs from the nasal bone up to the skin between the eyebrows and pulls that skin down.
  4. Orbicularis oculi A circular muscle that closes the eye. It surrounds the eye socket and extends into the eyelids.
  5. Nasalis The largest muscle of the nose. One part squeezes the nostrils narrower and the other flares them.
  6. Levator labii superioris It raises the upper lip. It starts on the maxilla just under the eye socket and ends in the lip.
  7. Zygomaticus minor A thin muscle that helps raise the upper lip. It runs from the zygomatic bone to the skin of the lip.
  8. Zygomaticus major (smiling muscle) It runs from the zygomatic bone to the corner of the mouth. It pulls the corner up and out, as in a smile or a laugh.
  9. Risorius A narrow bundle that ends at the corner of the mouth. It starts in the fascia over the masseter. It pulls the corner straight out to the side.
  10. Orbicularis oris A circular muscle around the mouth. It closes the lips and shapes them for speech.
  11. Depressor anguli oris It pulls the corner of the mouth down. It runs up to the corner from the mandible.
  12. Depressor labii inferioris It pulls the lower lip down. It runs from the mandible up to the skin of the lip.
  13. Mentalis It pushes the lower lip out, as in a pout. A small cone of muscle from the mandible to the skin of the chin.
  14. Platysma A broad, thin sheet that tenses the skin of the neck. It runs from the chest up over the collarbone and the side of the neck to the lower jaw.

Side view 6

  1. Epicranial aponeurosis A broad, flat tendon, not a muscle. It joins the belly on the forehead to the belly on the back of the head. Also called the galea aponeurotica.
  2. Occipitalis (occipital belly of occipitofrontalis) The belly of the occipitofrontalis on the back of the head. It lies over the occipital bone and pulls the scalp back.
  3. Temporalis A broad fan on the side of the head. Its fibers gather into a tendon that passes under the cheekbone arch to the mandible. It closes the jaw and pulls it back.
  4. Masseter (chewing muscle) The main chewing muscle. It runs from the cheekbone arch down to the angle of the mandible and lifts the lower jaw to close the mouth.
  5. Buccinator A thin, square muscle deep in the cheek. It presses the cheek against the teeth and is the muscle used to whistle or blow.
  6. Sternocleidomastoid One side turns the head. Both together bend it forward. It runs from the sternum and clavicle up to the mastoid process behind the ear.

How this list was compiled: Every name and detail line was checked on 2026-09-30 against OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e, section 11.3 Axial Muscles of the Head, Neck, and Back, https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/pages/11-3-axial-muscles-of-the-head-neck-and-back; TeachMeAnatomy, The Muscles of Facial Expression, https://teachmeanatomy.info/head/muscles/facial-expression/, and The Muscles of Mastication, https://teachmeanatomy.info/head/muscles/mastication/; Wikipedia: Facial muscles and List of skeletal muscles of the human body; and Gray, Anatomy of the Human Body, 1918, https://archive.org/details/anatomyofhumanbo00grayrich (the facial muscles, the muscles of mastication and the platysma). The wording is in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A face muscles quiz in two drawings. The front view holds the muscles of expression, from the forehead to the platysma on the neck; the side view adds the chewing muscles and the scalp.

Read the full guide

Front view: expression

Two rings come first: orbicularis oculi closes the eye and orbicularis oris closes the lips. Above the mouth, straps slant down from the cheekbone and the eye socket to lift the lip and its corners. Below it, three small muscles pull the lip and the corners down or push the lip out.

Side view: chewing and the scalp

Temporalis fans over the side of the skull and masseter covers the back of the jaw: a sheet that says label the muscles of expression and mastication wants both. With the neck strap it is a short muscles of the head and neck quiz.

  • A levator lifts and a depressor pulls down. Labii means the lip; anguli oris means the corner of the mouth.
  • There is no muscle across the top of the head, only a flat tendon between the forehead belly and the belly at the back.
  • Zygomaticus major is the thicker, outer strap and ends at the corner of the mouth; zygomaticus minor ends in the upper lip.

Questions and answers

What are the muscles of facial expression?

Thin muscles just under the skin of the face. Most start on the skull and end in the skin, so the skin moves when they shorten. The facial nerve supplies all of them.

Which muscles are the muscles of mastication?

Four pairs: masseter, temporalis, medial pterygoid and lateral pterygoid. The quiz asks the masseter and the temporalis; the two pterygoids lie on the inner side of the jaw and cannot be seen in a surface view.

Is the platysma a facial muscle?

It lies mostly in the neck, as a thin sheet from the chest to the lower jaw, but the facial nerve supplies it, so it can be counted with the muscles of facial expression.

Which muscle is used to smile?

Zygomaticus major. It runs from the zygomatic bone, the cheekbone, to the corner of the mouth and pulls the corner up and out.

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