Dictionary

podotheca en · NOUN

Etymology

From podo- + theca.

Meanings

1. The scaly or skin covering of the foot of a bird or animal.
   • The character of the tarsal podotheca is a useful generic character but too variable to use in delimiting the subfamilies . 1912, Joel Asaph Allen, Historical and Nomenclatorial Notes on North American Sheep, page 262:
   • In different kinds of birds, the podotheca begins on the tibiotarsus (shank), on the ankle, or at some more distal level; it extends to the tips of the toes. 2013, Donald S. Farner, James R. King, Avian Biology: Volume II, page 47:
   • Unlike the sheath of the bill, the podotheca is never simple and continuous, being divided and subdivided in various ways. 1903, Elliott Coues, Key to North American Birds:

Forms