Third metatarsal bone at a glance
- Also called
- third metatarsal
- What it is
- The middle of the lesser metatarsals. One of the five long bones of the forefoot.
- Location
- Lies between the tarsal bones of the midfoot and the proximal phalanx of its toe.
- Function
- Forms the arches and forefoot, bearing weight and acting as a lever in walking.
- Body system
- Skeletal · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA24512 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Its base articulates with the lateral cuneiform.
- The first plantar interosseous arises from its medial side; it also articulates with the second and fourth metatarsal bases.
Clinical relevance
Stress fractures are common in its shaft or neck.
Structures next to the third metatarsal bone
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- First plantar interosseous of foot · muscular
- Second plantar interosseous of foot · muscular
- Second metatarsal bone · skeletal
- Fourth metatarsal bone · skeletal
- Oblique head of adductor hallucis · muscular
- Third lumbrical of foot · muscular
- Second lumbrical of foot · muscular
- Fourth lumbrical of foot · muscular
- Transverse head of adductor hallucis · muscular
- First lumbrical of foot · muscular
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Third metatarsal bone (FMA24512). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §7.1 Divisions of the Skeletal System. Rice University, 2022.
- Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
Related anatomy
Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.