Note 32 — Chapter XXVI · EVOLUTION OF THE ORGANS OF MOVEMENT

The limb of the four higher classes of Vertebrates is now explained in the sense that the original fin-rod passes along its outer (ulnar or fibular) side, and ends in the fifth toe. It was formerly believed to go along the inner (radial or tibial) side, and end in the first toe, as Fig. 339 shows.) In the dipneust ancestors of the Amphibia the radii gradually atrophy, and are lost, for the most part, on the other side of the fin-rod as well (the lighter cartilages in Fig. 338). Only the four lowest radii (shaded in the illustration) are preserved; and these are the four inner toes of the foot (first to fourth). The little or fifth toe is developed from the lower end of the fin-rod. From the middle and upper part of the fin-rod was developed the long stem of the limb—the important radius and ulna (Fig. 339 r and u) and humerus (h) of the higher Vertebrates.