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The interactive dog atlas · Skeleton · Hind limb

Tibia tibia

The tibia is the large bone of the lower leg, from the stifle to the hock. At the top it joins the femur, at the bottom the bones of the hock, and it carries almost all the weight that passes through the lower leg.

Open in the interactive atlas Guide: Skeleton Worksheet

Educational material, not a diagnostic tool. Written by the Mantrailing România team from veterinary sources we read. Updated 14.11.2026.

Dog in left lateral view — exterior, muscles, skeleton and organs Vector study after the Ellenberger, Baum and Dittrich plates: a standing dog, head to the left, deep chest and digitigrade limbs. The four layers use the same contour: exterior with body regions, superficial muscles, skeleton and organs.
  1. Tibia
  2. Femur
  3. Fibula
  4. Tarsal bones
Tibia on the atlas drawing, "Skeleton" layer, with the neighbouring structures. Left lateral view, after the Ellenberger, Baum and Dittrich plates.

Where it is

The main bone of the lower leg, from the stifle to the hock.

System
Hind limb
Region
Hind limb

What it is and what it does

The tibia is the large bone of the lower leg. At the top it articulates with the femur at the stifle, at the bottom with the tarsal bones at the hock. It carries almost all the weight that passes through the lower leg; the slender fibula lies alongside it. The slope of the tibia in the standing dog sets the angle of the hock.

Worth remembering

Its slope in the standing dog sets the angle of the hock.

Names

  • Also called: shin bone.
  • Latin term: tibia.
  • In Romanian: Tibia (Romanian page).

Guides it appears in

From the same region: Hind limb

All structures, in the atlas · Flashcards: skeleton