The first description of the palmaris brevis muscle

Abstract

Giovanni Battista Canano was born in Italy in 1515 and his work has gone mostly unknown. Very few copies of this anatomist and physician's book are known to exist. Interestingly, Canano reported and depicted what we believe, to be the first description of the palmaris brevis muscle. This description would be some 200 years prior to what is thought to be the earliest mention of this muscle by William Cheselden in his book, The Anatomy of the Human Body, published in 1713.