Pedal arteries of monkeys, with special reference to the plantar metatarsal arteries.

Abstract

In the Japanese, Formosan and crab-eating monkeys, the dorsal metatarsal arteries and their lateral distal perforating branches were well developed and supplied, directly or via the catella plantaris distalis, the plantar digital arteries. In the black ape, the plantar digital arteries arose from the medial plantar artery. The plantar metatarsal arteries of these monkeys, including the black ape, arose from the catella plantaris proximalis or deep plantar arch and were classified into the superficial plantar metatarsal (sM), superficial plantar intermetatarsal (sI), deep plantar metatarsal (dM) and deep plantar intermetatarsal (dI) arteries in relation to the interosseous muscles and metatarsal bones. This classification largely coincides with that of the human hand and foot (Murakami, 1969, 1971) and the monkey hand (Nakai et al., 1987).