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The femur, or thigh bone, is the most proximal (closest to the body) bone
Bone

Bones are rigid organ that form part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They function to move, support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red blood cell and white blood cells and store minerals....
 of the leg
Leg

Leg may refer to the following places in Poland:*A former name for the town of Elk *Leg, Lower Silesian Voivodeship *Leg, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship ...
 in vertebrates capable of walking
Walking

Walking is the main form of animal locomotion on Earth, distinguished from running and crawling . When carried out in shallow waters, it is usually described as wading and when performed over a steeply rising object or an obstacle it becomes scrambling or climbing....
 or jumping
Jumping

Jumping or leaping is a form of locomotion or movement in which an organism propels itself through the air along a ballistic trajectory....
, such as most land mammals, birds, many reptiles such as lizards, and amphibians such as frogs. In vertebrates with four legs, the femur is found only in the rear legs. Some species of whales, snakes, and other non-walking vertebrates have vestigial femurs. One of the earliest known vertebrates to have a femur is the Eusthenopteron
Eusthenopteron

Eusthenopteron is a genus of prehistoric lobe-finned fish which has attained an iconic status from its close relationships to tetrapods. Early depictions of this animal show it emerging onto land, however paleontologists now widely agree that it was a Pelagic zone animal....
, a prehistoric lobe-finned fish from the Late Devonian period.






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The femur, or thigh bone, is the most proximal (closest to the body) bone
Bone

Bones are rigid organ that form part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They function to move, support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red blood cell and white blood cells and store minerals....
 of the leg
Leg

Leg may refer to the following places in Poland:*A former name for the town of Elk *Leg, Lower Silesian Voivodeship *Leg, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship ...
 in vertebrates capable of walking
Walking

Walking is the main form of animal locomotion on Earth, distinguished from running and crawling . When carried out in shallow waters, it is usually described as wading and when performed over a steeply rising object or an obstacle it becomes scrambling or climbing....
 or jumping
Jumping

Jumping or leaping is a form of locomotion or movement in which an organism propels itself through the air along a ballistic trajectory....
, such as most land mammals, birds, many reptiles such as lizards, and amphibians such as frogs. In vertebrates with four legs, the femur is found only in the rear legs. Some species of whales, snakes, and other non-walking vertebrates have vestigial femurs. One of the earliest known vertebrates to have a femur is the Eusthenopteron
Eusthenopteron

Eusthenopteron is a genus of prehistoric lobe-finned fish which has attained an iconic status from its close relationships to tetrapods. Early depictions of this animal show it emerging onto land, however paleontologists now widely agree that it was a Pelagic zone animal....
, a prehistoric lobe-finned fish from the Late Devonian period. In invertebrates, the name femur is also given to the most proximal full-length jointed segment of the legs of some arthropods such as spiders.

In humans, the femur is the longest and largest bone. Along with the temporal bone
Temporal bone

The temporal bones are situated at the sides and base of the skull.The temporal bone supports that part of the face known as the temple ....
 of the skull
Human skull

In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones. Except for the mandible, all of the bones of the skull are joined together by sutures of skull, synarthrodial joints formed by bony ossification, with Sharpey's fibres permitting some flexibility....
, it is one of the two strongest bones in the body. The average adult human femur is 48 centimeters (19 in) in length and 2.34 cm (0.92 in) in diameter and can support up to 30 times the weight of an adult. It forms part of the hip (at the acetabulum
Acetabulum

The acetabulum is a :wikt:concave surface of the pelvis. The femur head meets with the pelvis at the acetabulum, forming the hip joint....
) and part of the knee
Knee

----The knee is the lower extremity joint connecting the femur, patella, and the tibia and the surrounding anatomical region which includes the popliteal fossa, also known as "knee pit"....
. There are four eminences, or protuberances, in the human femur: the head
Femur head

The femur head is the highest part of the thigh bone . It is supported by the neck of the femur.The head is globular and forms rather more than a hemisphere, is directed upward, medialward, and a little forward, the greater part of its convexity being above and in front....
, the greater trochanter
Greater trochanter

The greater trochanter of the femur is a large, irregular, quadrilateral eminence.It is directed a little lateralward and backward, and, in the adult, is about 1 cm....
, the lesser trochanter
Lesser trochanter

The lesser trochanter of the femur is a conical eminence, which varies in size in different subjectsIt projects from the lower and back part of the base of the Femur neck....
, and the lower extremity
Lower extremity of femur

The lower extremity of the femur , larger than the upper extremity of femur, is somewhat cuboid in form, but its transverse diameter is greater than its antero-posterior; it consists of two oblong eminences known as the condyles....
. They appear at various times from just before birth to about age 14. Initially, they are joined to the main body of the femur with cartilage
Cartilage

Cartilage is a type of dense connective tissue. It is composed of specialized cells called chondrocyte that produce a large amount of extracellular matrix composed of collagen fibers, abundant ground substance rich in proteoglycan, and elastin fibers....
, which gradually becomes ossified
Ossification

Ossification is the process of bone formation, in which connective tissues, such as cartilage are turned to bone or bone-like tissue. The ossified tissue is invaginated with blood vessels....
 until the protuberances become an integral part of the femur bone, usually in early adulthood.

The word femur is Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 for thigh. Theoretically in strict usage, femur bone is more proper than femur, as in classical Latin femur means "thigh
Thigh

In human anatomy the thigh is the area between the pelvis and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the Human leg.The single bone in the thigh is called the femur....
", and os femoris means "the thigh's bone".

In medical Latin its genitive is always femoris, but in classical Latin
Classical Latin

Classical Latin is the form of the Latin used by the ancient Rome in what is usually regarded as "classical" Latin literature. Its use spanned the Golden Age of Latin literature—broadly the 1st century BC and the early 1st century AD—possibly extending to the Silver Age—broadly the 1st and 2nd centuries....
 its genitive is often feminis, and should not be confused with case forms of femina, which means "woman".

Intercondylar Fossa

The intercondylar fossa is present between the condyles at the distal end of the femur. In addition to the intercondylar eminence on the tibial plateau, there is both an anterior and posterior intercondylar fossa (area), the sites of anterior cruciate and posterior cruciate ligament attachment, respectively.

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