The five digits of the giraffe metatarsal

Evolution has shaped the limbs of hoofed animals in specific ways. In
artiodactyls, it is the common assumption that the metatarsal is composed
of the fusion of digits III and IV, while the other three digits have been
lost or are highly reduced. However, evidence from the fossil record and
internal morphology of the metatarsal challenges these assumptions.
Further, only a few taxonomic groups have been analyzed. In giraffes, we
discovered that all five digits are present in the adult metatarsal and
are highly fused and modified rather than lost. We used high resolution
µCT-scans of the metatarsals of two mid and late-Miocene giraffid fossils
and the extant giraffe and okapi. In all the Giraffidae analyzed, we find
a combination of four morphologies: (1) four articular facets, (2) four,
and in most cases, five separate medullary cavities internally, (3) a
clear, small digit I, and (4) in the two fossil taxa of unknown genus the
presence of external elongated grooves where the fusions of II and V have
taken place. Giraffa and Okapia, the extant Giraffidae, show a difference
from all the extinct taxa in having more flattened digits tightly packed
together, suggesting convergent highly fused digits despite divergent
ecologies and locomotions. These discoveries provide evidence for new
understandings as to how bones fuse and question current hypotheses of
digit loss.