How many muscles of the thumb are located at the thenar eminence?

• A. 2
• B. 3
• C. 4
• D. 5

Answer: (C)

The thenar eminence contains three intrinsic muscles of the thumb: abductor pollicis brevis, flexor pollicis brevis, and opponens pollicis. These three are the muscles responsible for the primary thumb movements you rely on for gripping and manipulating objects—abduction (moving the thumb away from the hand), flexion (curling the thumb inward), and opposition (bringing the thumb to touch the other fingers). The adductor pollicis sits deeper in the palm and is not part of the thenar group, where it helps bring the thumb toward the index finger rather than contributing to the basic thenar movements. So, there are three muscles located at the thenar eminence.