tarsometatarsus

[tahr-soh-met-uh-tahr-suhs]

noun

Ornithology.

plural

tarsometatarsi 

1. the large bone in the lower leg of a bird with which the toe bones articulate, formed by the fusion of tarsal and metatarsal bones.

tarsometatarsus

/ ˌtɑːsəʊˌmɛtəˈtɑːsəs /

noun

1. a bone in the lower part of a bird's leg consisting of the metatarsal bones and some of the tarsal bones fused together

Other Word Forms

• tarsometatarsal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tarsometatarsus¹

First recorded in 1850–55; tarso- + metatarsus

Word History and Origins

Origin of tarsometatarsus¹

C19: tarso- , from _tarsus + _metatarsus

Example Sentences

Researchers study owl fossils by looking at the shapes of their bones, including their tarsometatarsus, Smith said in an interview with LiveScience.

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A mammalian convergence on the avian tarsometatarsus.

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In penguins, the tarsometatarsi is very distinct; it is extremely short and broad, as if someone took a heron’s tarsometatarsus, cut out the long bit in the middle and glued the top and bottom together again.

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But even within penguins, the shape of the tarsometatarsus varies.

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This shows that the typical penguin tarsometatarsus morphology evolved more rapidly than we thought.

Read more on The Guardian