654 



MAMMALIAN ANATOMY 



CHAPTER IX 



THE PELVIC LIMBS 



FIG. 515. 



TRUNK. 



THE REGIONS OF THE SKELETON. 



EACH Posterior or Pelvic Limb comprises (Fig. 515) : 



(1) A proximal element, the hip or haunch, firmly attached to the 

 trunk and scarcely distinguishable from it. 



(2) A more or less free element, the' limb proper, which is divided 

 into three serial parts, the thigh, the leg, and the foot. The foot is 

 subdivided into a proximal part, the tarsus, a middle part, the meta- 

 tarsus, and a distal part, the digits or toes. 



The Hip is supported by the single irregular innominate or hip 

 bone (Fig. 516), which joins the sacrum and its fellow of the opposite 

 side to form a complete bony ring. Each half of this ring, therefore 

 each innominate, is known as a pelvic girdle. 



The Thigh is supported by one cylindrical bone, the femur. 



The Leg contains two long bones, the tibia and the fibula, placed 

 side by side. They are fixed in that position : the foot, therefore, 

 cannot be turned in prouation and supination. 



The Foot is supported by twenty-four bones, not including the 

 eight small sesamoid bones. 



