The ankle bone
Talus · talus
The bone that links your leg to your foot, sitting in the ankle joint with no muscles attached.
What it does
The talus sits between the bottom of the shin bones and the heel bone. It is the hinge of the ankle that lets your foot point up and down, and below it a second joint lets the foot tilt inwards and outwards. All of your body weight passes through it.
Surprising fact
The talus has no muscles attached to it at all, and much of its surface is covered in joint cartilage, which leaves only a small area for its blood supply.
Why it matters
Because its blood supply is limited, a broken talus can heal poorly and sometimes the bone can die. Ankle sprains are far more common, though, and usually injure the ligaments around it instead.
Nearby
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Open in the 3D atlas · Suggest a correction · Not medical advice.
3D models: Z-Anatomy & BodyParts3D (CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2.1 JP). Card text CC BY 4.0.