Dog · Set · Pelvic limb
The tarsal bones
Ossa tarsi
Seven bones in the hock. The talus, the calcaneus and the central tarsal are learnt by name and have their own pages; these four are the distal row, and they are told apart mostly by size.
- Region
- Pelvic limb
- Members
- 7
- Own page
- 3
How they differ along the set
What changes from one end of the series to the other, which is most of what there is to know about any one of them.
- Seven bones. The word tarsus also names the joints between them, and the region between the crus and the metatarsus.Miller 2020, p. 362
- They are arranged so that the tibia and fibula articulate essentially with the talus alone.Miller 2020, p. 362
- The tarsus is more than three times as long as the carpus, and may measure nine centimetres from its highest joint to its lowest.Miller 2020, p. 362
- The long, lateral calcaneus and the shorter, medial talus make the proximal row; four bones make the distal row.Miller 2020, p. 362
- The first tarsal bone is always flattened from side to side, and where it is not a separate bone it is fused with the first metatarsal.Miller 2020, p. 364
- The second tarsal is the smallest of the seven, a wedge reaching only a short way towards the plantar side; its joint with the second metatarsal sits higher than the joints lateral to it.Miller 2020, p. 364
- The third is about three times larger and twice as long as the second, and ends on the plantar side in a rounded tuberosity buried in the joint capsule.Miller 2020, p. 364
- The fourth is as long as the central and third tarsals put together.Miller 2020, p. 364
The members
In order along the set. Any one of them can be singled out in the model above, with the picker beneath it. The ones that are taught by name have a page of their own.
- TalusTalusTrochlea articulates with tibia and fibula (tarsocrural joint)Own page
- CalcaneusCalcaneusLateral proximal row; calcaneal tuber is the point of the hock (common calcanean tendon)Own page
- Central tarsal boneOs tarsi centraleBetween talus and the distal row (tarsal I-III)Own page
- First tarsal boneOs tarsale IDistal row, most medial; small; articulates with metatarsal I/II
- Second tarsal boneOs tarsale IIDistal row; articulates with metatarsal II
- Third tarsal boneOs tarsale IIIDistal row; articulates with metatarsal III
- Fourth tarsal boneOs tarsale IVLateral, spans both rows; articulates with calcaneus and metatarsals IV-V
References
Where to read this set in full, and where everything above was 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
- Miller 2020Miller 2020, ch. 4 The Skeleton, Tarsus, PDF p. 362-364