Tulane Students Discover New Pelvic Muscle Attachment, May Aid Hip Surgery in 2026
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Nov 5
Tulane Students Discover New Pelvic Muscle Attachment, May Aid Hip Surgery in 2026
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Nov 5
Summary
Two Tulane undergraduates found a previously undocumented pelvic muscle attachment while dissecting cadaver hips in 2024, and the findings have now been published in Clinical Anatomy.
The structure appeared during a comparison of where the iliacus joins the psoas major; after checking textbooks and literature, professor R. Shane Tubbs and the team concluded it had not been described before.
Tubbs said the attachment runs from deep in the pelvis to the front of the hip and may help stabilize the psoas major, though its exact function remains unknown.
The next step is to see whether MRI can detect it and whether its presence correlates with hip symptoms, which could eventually guide physical therapy, injections or surgical decisions.
The attachment was not present in every cadaver, and a similar structure in gorillas points to anatomical variation and a possible evolutionary link as researchers study how common it is.
Could a hidden pelvic muscle be the secret culprit behind your unexplained hip pain or snapping hip syndrome?
Why do only 28 percent of humans share a rare hip muscle attachment with gorillas, and what evolutionary purpose does it serve?
Will this unexpected discovery by two undergraduates force modern medical schools to rethink digital models and return to traditional cadaver dissections?