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tarsometatarsus

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

noun

, Ornithology.
, plural tar·so·met·a·tar·si [tahr-soh-met-, uh, -, tahr, -sahy, -see].
  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
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˌtarsoˌmetaˈtarsal, adjective
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Other Words From

  • tarso·meta·tarsal adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of tarsometatarsus1

First recorded in 1850–55; tarso- + metatarsus
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Word History and Origins

Origin of tarsometatarsus1

C19: tarso- , from tarsus + metatarsus
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Example Sentences

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

A mammalian convergence on the avian tarsometatarsus.

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.

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

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

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tarso-tarsus