The Legs

[BrokenWing]

BrokenWing Chronicles
The Legs

The bones of the leg have also been modified. The thigh bone (femur) is the same as is found in mammals. The knee joint follows at the joint below the femur. The next bone is different from that found in mammals. Several bones have fused to form the  tibiotarsus bone. Basically, the ankle bones fused with the bones of the arch of the foot to form one long bone. There is still a small fibula bone present. The next joint is called the  intertarsal joint, and humans don't have one. The bone below that joint is called the  tarsometatarsus, which also consists of fused bones. Think of the flamingo leg and how when you watch one walk, it seems as if the "knee" is bending the "wrong" way. That's because the elongated tarsometatarsus looks like the shin bone, so you think that the joint (if it was the knee) should bend in the other direction. But actually the knee is up in the feathered area of the leg, which DOES bend the same way ours does.



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