Functional Anatomy of The Boned of the Leg And Foot of Ostrich (Struthio Camelus)

Summary:-This study described the bones of legs and foot of ostrich (Struthio camelus) Furthermore, it considered the functional aspects of the limb structure.This work carried out on the bones of the leg and foot, which were obtained from both sexes of six normal adult ostriches (Struthio camelus).Their ages were ranging from 1 to 3 years. These bones were collected from ostrich farm of the faculty of VeterinaAll specimens were selected then prepared either by maceration or boiling method. The bones were investigated macroscopically and described in detail, digitally photographed by cannon digital camera and were measured by using the caliber and angle measuriSix rear limbs used to have x-ray photographs for intertarsal, metatarsophalangeal and interphalangeal joints.All numerical data would be recorded and the anatomical specialist designations were used along the course of this work. The terminology was adopted in this work according to Osteologia and Arthrologia in Nomina Anatomica Avium (Baumel and Raikow, 1993).In ostrich, the leg represents the tibiotarsus and fibula. Tibiotarsus is formed by the fusion between tibia and the proximal row of tarsal bones.It was characterized proximally by larger triangular medial condyle and quadrilateral lateral one was separated by intercondyloid fossa.The cranial part of the proximal end was expanded to form lateral and cranial cnemial crests .The distal extermity expaFibula was shorter than tibia with expanded head and showed pointed end. The foot was represented by tarsometatarsus and digits. The tarsometatarsus articulated with the distal extremity of the tibiotarsus forming the intertarsal joint. A single hypotarsuThe number of digits was reduced to two, digit III has 4 phalanges and digit IV has 5 phalanges. In between these phalanges the interphalangeal joints were formed. The distal phalanx of digit III & IV were claw in shape and were covered by horny claw. TheMost likely, the morphological features of the bones of legs and foot of ostrich had special adaptations for bipedal locomotion.