Functional Structure of Metapodial Bones of Cattle

The supporting part of the metapodium skeleton of the thoracic limb consists of os metacarpale III et IV, developing through the fusion of two initially independent bones (III and IV). In the pelvic limb it is os metatarsale III et IV, developing analogically. In macerated bones of recent cattle at the age of 1-8 years and those from archaeological excavations (medieval, 9th–15th centuries) the length asymmetry of the above bones was studied by means of osteometry and the data obtained were evaluated statistically. In the thoracic limb metapodium, being the major supporting element in unguligrade paraxonic cattle, three possible relations between the lengths of metacarpals III and IV were observed, viz., (1) III longer than IV, (2) IV longer than III, and (3) both bones of the same length. In the metatarsus, i.e. the part of the pelvic limb with a largely locomotive function, bone IV was the longer one in all cases. Osteometric and statistical methods were also applied to the material mentioned above in order to examine the correlation of the width of cavum medullare with the overall width of a bone. While the relative width of the medullar cavity of the metapodium bones was found to be correlated with age, this correlation was negative in both the metacarpus and metatarsus (r =-0.6778 and-0.6294, respectively). The relation between the resorptive and formative processes (R:F) in the bone of unguligrades tends to depend upon the requirements fo