Tibiotarsus

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The tibiotarsus is the large bone between the femur and the tarsometatarsus in the leg of a bird. It is the fusion of the proximal part of the tarsus with the tibia.

A similar structure also occurred in the Mesozoic Heterodontosauridae. These small ornithischian dinosaurs were unrelated to birds and the similarity of their foot bones must thus be due to convergent evolution.

[edit] See also

• Bird anatomy

[edit] References

• Proctor, Nobel S. Manual of Ornithology: Avian Structure and Function. Yale University Press. (1993) ISBN 0-30-005746-6