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Undo revision 906457 by BrotherX (talk)
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[[Image:Foot.jpg|thumb|200px|Human foot]]
<small>''For the unit of measurement, see [[foot_(unit)]]''</small>
A '''foot''' is an [[organ]] that is used for locomotion and takes a variety of forms depending on the [[animal]].<ref>Wile, Dr. Jay L. ''Exploring Creation With Biology''. Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 1998</ref> Animal feet are comprised of five [[finger]]s or two parts called [[hooves]].
The foot has essentially the same anatomical structure and the same bones in different [[mammal]]s, but is positioned and used for locomotion in different ways.
Animals with the ''[[plantigrade]]'' stance, including [[bear]]s, [[primate]]s, and [[armadillo]]s, walk on their entire foot; the whole foot is placed flat on the ground from heel to toe.
Animals with the ''[[digitigrade]]'' stance, including [[cat]]s and [[dog]]s walk only on the digits of the limbs—corresponding to fingers in humans. The rear part of the foot is lifted off the ground.
Animals with the ''[[unguligrade]]'' stance, including [[horse]]s, [[cattle]], and [[deer]], walk only on the ''tips'' of the digits. In the horse, the anatomical structure corresponding to the foot is very elongated. In a famous mistake, the [[lexicography|lexicographer]] [[Samuel Johnson]] defined the word ''[[pastern]]'' as "the [[knee]] of the horse." The pastern does look like a knee and it in roughly the location where you might expect a knee, but it faces backwards. Animals with the unguligrade stance are fast runners, depending on speed to escape [[predator]]s, and their legs are long and relatively fragile.
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Anatomy]]