Like that of the entire pharynx the musculature of the tongue stems from premyoblasts that have come from the 4 occipital somites. The connective tissue stems from the neural ridge cells that have formed on both sides of the neural tube. Both together form a hypoglossal cellular cord to the pharynx floor (stage 14).
In the pharynx floor the myoblasts begin to differentiate.
The hypoglossus nerve (stage 15) is responsible for the innervation of the tongue musculature.

The external eye musculature stems from the prechordal plate.
This is a pre-otic mesenchymal condensation that stands in a close relationship with the floor of the neural groove. The myoblasts (stage 16) differentiate already very early and form myotubes of the external eye muscles (stage 20) (M. rectus sup., inf., med. and lat.; M. obliquus inf. and sup.).