In the upper neck, a branch from the anterior ramus of C1 joins the hypoglossal nerve [XII]. Most of these C1 fibers leave the hypoglossal nerve [XII] as the superior root of the ansa cervicalis (Fig. 8.263). Near the posterior border of the hyoglossus muscle, the remaining fibers leave the hypoglossal nerve [XII] and form two nerves: the thyrohyoid branch, which remains in the neck to innervate the thyrohyoid muscle, and the branch to the geniohyoid, which passes into the floor of the oral cavity to innervate the geniohyoid.