Menu Close

What are the names of the metacarpals?

What are the names of the metacarpals?

Metacarpals – There are five metacarpals, each one related to a digit. Phalanges (Distal) – The bones of the fingers….Metacarpal Bones

  • Metacarpal I – Thumb.
  • Metacarpal II – Index finger.
  • Metacarpal III – Middle finger.
  • Metacarpal IV – Ring finger.
  • Metacarpal V – Little finger.

How do you pronounce metacarpus?

noun, plural met·a·car·pi [met-uh-kahr-pahy].

What kind of bone is metacarpal?

Medical Definition of Bone type Short bones: Short bones also have a tubular shaft and articular surfaces at each end but are much smaller. The short bones include all of the metacarpals and phalanges in the hands, and the metatarsals and phalanges in the feet.

What does the root word metacarpal mean?

metacarpus (n.) “the middle bones of the hand,” 1650s, Modern Latin, from Greek metakarpion, from meta “between; next after” (see meta-) + karpos “wrist” (see carpus). Related: Metacarpal.

Is your thumb a finger?

A thumb is a digit, but not technically a finger. Many people don’t make the distinction between thumbs and other digits.

What are fingers called in anatomy?

Phalanges
Phalanges. The 14 bones that are found in the fingers of each hand and also in the toes of each foot. Each finger has 3 phalanges (the distal, middle, and proximal); the thumb only has 2.

What are metacarpals?

Metacarpal, any of several tubular bones between the wrist (carpal) bones and each of the forelimb digits in land vertebrates, corresponding to the metatarsal bones of the foot. The metacarpals also form a transverse arch that allows the fingertips and thumb to be brought together for manipulation.

What is the purpose of metacarpal bones?

The basic function of the metacarpals is to act as the bridge between the wrist and fingers, forming the framework of the hand. Together as the carpus, it is the vital part of the skeleton that holds together the small and large bones in the human hand, stabilizing its dorsal and palmar sides.

Which metacarpal is the longest?

Second Metacarpal Bone
The Second Metacarpal Bone (os metacarpale II; metacarpal bone of the index finger) is the longest, and its base the largest, of the four remaining bones.

What is the definition of a metacarpal bone?

How many metacarpal bones are there in each hand?

Bones. The human hand has 27 bones: the carpals or wrist accounts for 8; the metacarpals or palm contains five; the remaining fourteen are digital bones; fingers and thumb. The palm has five bones known as metacarpal bones, one to each of the 5 digits.

What is another name for the metacarpals?

The metacarpals are long bones within the hand that are connected to the carpals, or wrist bones, and to the phalanges, or finger bones. The metacarpals together are referred to as the ‘metacarpus .’ The tops of the metacarpals form the knuckles where they join to the wrist. On the palm side, they are covered with connective tissue.

What is the function of the metacarpals?

These muscles control the mobility of the palm, fingers, and also the flexion of the wrist in the radial and ulnar sides. The basic function of the metacarpals is to act as the bridge between the wrist and fingers, forming the framework of the hand.

What is the common name of carpals?

There are eight carpal bones in the human wrist, each one being named according to their shape: Scaphoid (boat-shaped) Lunate (crescent moon-shaped) Triquetrum (pyramidal) Pisiform (pea-shaped) Trapezium (irregular trapezium-shaped) Trapezoid (wedge-shaped) Capitate (head-shaped) Hamate (wedge-shaped with a bony extension or ‘hook’)