Sei-ichiro Takeda, Tatsuo Oshida, Masaharu Motokawa, Shin-ichiro Kawada and Hideki Endo (2023) Morphology of metapodiophalangeal joints and mobility of finger and toe in bovids. Mammal Study 48 (3): 145–157.

　This study used CT scans to simulate the movement of bones in bovids' feet, focusing on how different species' joint shapes affect their ability to move fingers and toes. The study aimed to understand how the mobility of metapodiophalangeal joints, which connect the main foot bones to the toes, are correlated to habitat use. Using 26 species which covers species with diverse body size and habitat use, they find that bovids living in closed habitats or mountains have gaps in their joints that allow them to spread their toes wider, aiding in balance and movement over uneven terrain. They also found that the size of these gaps in the joints is not related to the body size of the bovids, suggesting body size is not the driving factor that evolutionarily determines the mobility of metapodiophalangeal joints. Using a simple framework and methodology, the study advances our understanding of functional significance of digit morphologies in hooved mammals and provides profound insights into the adaptive evolution and diversification of bovids.