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Dog · Bone · Pelvic limb

Calcaneus

The largest tarsal bone. Its tuber is the point of the hock, where the common calcanean tendon pulls, and it carries the sustentaculum tali on its medial side.

System
Bone
Region
Pelvic limb
Sides
Paired: left and right
Named parts
5

Where it runs from and to

A muscle is told apart from its neighbours by what it takes hold of at each end, which is also what decides what it does when it shortens.

Action
The largest tarsal bone. Its tuber is the point of the hock, where the common calcanean tendon pulls, and it carries the sustentaculum tali on its medial side.

Written for Vetomica in its own words from the standard reference anatomy of the dog; the books it was checked against are listed below.

Named parts

What to look for on the bone, and what each part is called in the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria.

Calcanean tuberTuber calcanei
The point of the hock, where the common calcanean tendon arrives.Miller 2020, p. 363
Sustentaculum taliSustentaculum tali
The shelf on the medial side that holds up the talus; the deep flexor tendon runs over it.Miller 2020, p. 363
Talar articular surfacesFacies articularis talaris
The facets on the dorsal side that the talus sits on.Miller 2020, p. 363
Calcanean sulcusSulcus calcanei
The groove between those facets.Miller 2020, p. 363
Cuboid articular surfaceFacies articularis cuboidea
The flat distal face that meets the fourth tarsal bone.Miller 2020, p. 363

What it meets

Lateral proximal row; calcaneal tuber is the point of the hock (common calcanean tendon).

Bones it articulates with

Muscles and ligaments that take hold of it

  • Common calcanean tendon
  • Calcanean cap of superficial digital flexor
  • Long plantar ligament
  • Intertarsal joints

Measured on the specimen

What the calcaneus is in contact with in the model itself, with the share of the other structure’s surface it covers. A contact is not always a joint: bones that simply lie against one another are in this list too.

Measured on the left side.

Terminology

English
Calcaneus
Latin (NAV)
Calcaneus
Status
A valid term in the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria

References

Where to read this structure in full, and where the named parts above were read.

  • Miller 2020Miller 2020, ch. 4 The Skeleton, Tarsus, PDF p. 362
  • König & Liebich 2020skeleton of the pelvic limb, p. 243-263
  • Dyce 2017ch. 17 Hindlimb of the Dog and Cat, p. 481
  • NAV 2017Osteologia