The foot is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws and/or nails.
In human anatomy, the fibularis longus is a superficial muscle in the lateral compartment of the leg. It acts to tilt the sole of the foot away from the midline of the body (eversion) and to extend the foot downward away from the body at the ankle.
In the human body, the cuboid bone is one of the seven tarsal bones of the foot.
The metatarsal bones or metatarsus are a group of five long bones in the midfoot, located between the tarsal bones and the phalanges (toes). Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are numbered from the medial side : the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth metatarsal. The metatarsals are analogous to the metacarpal bones of the hand. The lengths of the metatarsal bones in humans are, in descending order, second, third, fourth, fifth, and first. A bovine hind leg has two metatarsals.
There are three cuneiform ("wedge-shaped") bones in the human foot:
In the human body, the tarsus is a cluster of seven articulating bones in each foot situated between the lower end of the tibia and the fibula of the lower leg and the metatarsus. It is made up of the midfoot and hindfoot.
The posterior tibial artery of the lower limb is an artery that carries blood to the posterior compartment of the leg and plantar surface of the foot. It branches from the popliteal artery via the tibial-fibular trunk.
In human anatomy, the dorsalis pedis artery is a blood vessel of the lower limb. It arises from the anterior tibial artery, and ends at the first intermetatarsal space. It carries oxygenated blood to the dorsal side of the foot. It is useful for taking a pulse. It is also at risk during anaesthesia of the deep peroneal nerve.
In human anatomy, the dorsal interossei of the foot are four muscles situated between the metatarsal bones.
In human anatomy, the fibularis brevis is a muscle that lies underneath the fibularis longus within the lateral compartment of the leg. It acts to tilt the sole of the foot away from the midline of the body (eversion) and to extend the foot downward away from the body at the ankle.
The abductor digiti minimi is a muscle which lies along the lateral (outer) border of the foot, and is in relation by its medial margin with the lateral plantar artery, vein and nerves.
The plantar metatarsal arteries are four in number, arising from the convexity of the plantar arch. They run forward between the metatarsal bones and in contact with the Interossei. They are located in the fourth layer of the foot.
The medial plantar artery, much smaller than the lateral plantar artery, passes forward along the medial side of the foot.
The deep plantar artery descends into the sole of the foot, between the two heads of the 1st interosseous dorsalis, and unites with the termination of the lateral plantar artery, to complete the plantar arch.
The tarsometatarsal joints are arthrodial joints in the foot. The tarsometatarsal joints involve the first, second and third cuneiform bones, the cuboid bone and the metatarsal bones. The eponym of Lisfranc joint is 18th–19th-century surgeon and gynecologist Jacques Lisfranc de St. Martin.
The lateral tarsal artery arises from the dorsalis pedis, as that vessel crosses the navicular bone; it passes in an arched direction lateralward, lying upon the tarsal bones, and covered by extensor hallucis brevis and extensor digitorum brevis; it supplies these muscles and the articulations of the tarsus, and receives the arcuate over the base of the fifth metatarsal. It may receive contributions from branches of the anterior lateral malleolar and the perforating branch of the peroneal artery directed towards the joint capsule, and from the lateral plantar arteries through perforating arteries of the foot.
The plantar arch is a circulatory anastomosis formed from:
The arcuate artery of the foot gives off the second, third, and fourth dorsal metatarsal arteries, which run forward upon the corresponding Interossei dorsales; in the clefts between the toes, each divides into two dorsal digital branches for the adjoining toes.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to human anatomy:
Glacialisaurus is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur. It lived during the Pliensbachian stage of the Early Jurassic period around 186 to 182 million years ago in what is now the central region of the Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica. It is known from two specimens; the holotype, a partial tarsus (ankle) and metatarsus, and a partial left femur. The fossils were collected by a team led by paleontologist William R. Hammer during a 1990–91 field expedition to the Hanson Formation of Antarctica. They were described in 2007, and made the basis of the new genus and species Glacialisaurus hammeri. The genus name translates as “icy” or "frozen lizard”, and the species name honors Hammer.
