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Limb (anatomy)

 

 
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Limb (anatomy)
 
 
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A limb (from the Old English lim) is a jointed, or prehensile (as octopus
Octopus

The octopus is a cephalopod of the order Octopoda that inhabits many diverse regions of the ocean, especially coral reefs. The term may also refer to only those creatures in the genus Octopus ....
 tentacles or new world monkey
Monkey

A monkey is a nonhuman primate mammal with the exception usually of the lemurs and tarsiers. More specifically, the term monkey refers to a subset of monkeys: any of the smaller longer-tailed catarrhine or platyrrhine primates as contrasted with the apes....
 tails), appendage
Appendage

An appendage in the broadest sense is an additional or subsidiary part existing on, or added to, something which can generally still function if the appendage has never existed or is later provided or grown, or will still perform a primary function if the appendage is removed....
 of the human
Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
 or other animal body
Body

With regard to organism, a body is the integral physical material of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death....
.

Most animals use limbs for locomotion
Locomotion

The term locomotion means movement or travel. It may refer to:* Motion * Animal locomotion** Terrestrial locomotion* TravelLocomotion may refer to specific types of motion:...
, such as 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....
, running
Running

Running is a means for an Terrestrial locomotion in animals on foot. It is defined in sporting terms as a gait in which at some point all feet are off the ground at the same time....
, or climbing
Climbing

Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations....
. Some animals can use their front limbs (or upper limbs in humans) to carry and manipulate objects. Some animals can also use hind limbs for manipulation.

In the human
Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
 body, the upper
Upper limb

In human anatomy, the upper Limb refers to what in common English is known as the arm, that is, the region of the shoulder to the fingertips....
 and lower limbs are commonly called the arm
Arm

In anatomy, an arm is one of the upper limbs of an animal. The term arm can also be used for analogous structures, such as one of the paired upper limbs of a four-legged animal, or the cephalopod arm....
s and the legs
Human leg

In common usage, the human leg is the lower limb of the human body, extending from the knee to the ankle, and excluding the thigh,The largest bone in the human body, the femur, is in the leg ....
.






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A limb (from the Old English lim) is a jointed, or prehensile (as octopus
Octopus

The octopus is a cephalopod of the order Octopoda that inhabits many diverse regions of the ocean, especially coral reefs. The term may also refer to only those creatures in the genus Octopus ....
 tentacles or new world monkey
Monkey

A monkey is a nonhuman primate mammal with the exception usually of the lemurs and tarsiers. More specifically, the term monkey refers to a subset of monkeys: any of the smaller longer-tailed catarrhine or platyrrhine primates as contrasted with the apes....
 tails), appendage
Appendage

An appendage in the broadest sense is an additional or subsidiary part existing on, or added to, something which can generally still function if the appendage has never existed or is later provided or grown, or will still perform a primary function if the appendage is removed....
 of the human
Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
 or other animal body
Body

With regard to organism, a body is the integral physical material of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death....
.

Most animals use limbs for locomotion
Locomotion

The term locomotion means movement or travel. It may refer to:* Motion * Animal locomotion** Terrestrial locomotion* TravelLocomotion may refer to specific types of motion:...
, such as 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....
, running
Running

Running is a means for an Terrestrial locomotion in animals on foot. It is defined in sporting terms as a gait in which at some point all feet are off the ground at the same time....
, or climbing
Climbing

Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations....
. Some animals can use their front limbs (or upper limbs in humans) to carry and manipulate objects. Some animals can also use hind limbs for manipulation.

In the human
Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
 body, the upper
Upper limb

In human anatomy, the upper Limb refers to what in common English is known as the arm, that is, the region of the shoulder to the fingertips....
 and lower limbs are commonly called the arm
Arm

In anatomy, an arm is one of the upper limbs of an animal. The term arm can also be used for analogous structures, such as one of the paired upper limbs of a four-legged animal, or the cephalopod arm....
s and the legs
Human leg

In common usage, the human leg is the lower limb of the human body, extending from the knee to the ankle, and excluding the thigh,The largest bone in the human body, the femur, is in the leg ....
. Human legs and feet
Foot

The foot is an anatomical structure found in many animals. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws or nails....
 are specialised for two-legged locomotion -- most other mammals walk
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....
 and run
Running

Running is a means for an Terrestrial locomotion in animals on foot. It is defined in sporting terms as a gait in which at some point all feet are off the ground at the same time....
 on all four limbs. Human arms are weaker, but very mobile allowing us to reach at a wide range of distances and angles, and end in specialised hand
Hand

The hands are the two intricate, prehensile, multi-fingered body parts normally located at the end of each arm of a human or other primate. They are the chief organs for physically manipulating the environment, using anywhere from the roughest motor skills to the finest , and since the fingertips contain some of the densest areas of nerve e...
s capable of grasping and fine manipulation of objects.

See also

  • Orthosis
  • Limb development
    Limb development

    The tetrapod limb develops from a specific area of the body axis called the limb field. The position of the limb field is associated with and presumably specified by the spatial pattern of Hox gene expression along the body axis....