The relative length of various
bones in an animal's skeleton has many effects. It affects
biomechanics, stride length, ground contact, speed, and strength.
Stance and bone length work together to give an animal its particular
characteristics. The squirrel has a total leg length of 7
and 3/4 inches with 2 and 3/8 inches touching the ground. This
means that 31% of a squirrels leg is making contact with the
ground. The coyote has a total leg length of 21 and 1/2
inches with 3 inches touching the ground meaning that 14% of its leg
length is making contact with the ground. The deer has a total
leg length of 34 and 7/8 inches with only one inch of length touching
the ground meaning that only 3% of it leg length is making contact with
the ground. The metatarsals show the greatest relative change
from squirrel to coyote to deer.
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