nasalis /nāzal″is/ [L, nasus, nose] , one of the three muscles of the nose, divided into a transverse part and an alar part. The transverse part arises from the maxilla and covers the bridge of the nose; the alar part attaches at one end to the greater alar cartilage and at the other end to skin at the end of the nose. The transverse part serves to depress the cartilaginous part of the nose and to draw the alar toward the septum. The alar part serves to dilate the nostril. Compare depressor septi, procerus.
