The Scientific and practical significance of human foot metatarsal bones anatomical variability studies

In the scientific and practical aspect, the significance of the osteological and osteometry studies results in the field of identification of skeletal remains and identification of individuals in general is difficult to overestimate, despite the corresponding achievements of modern molecular and genetic methods. However, the labor intensity, cost and accuracy of the latter still leave much to be desired, and the effectiveness does not exceed the effectiveness of classical methods of forensic and archaeological diagnostics, therefore osteometry, both direct and X-ray, remains the «gold standard» for identifying bone elements of the human skeleton. The purpose of the study is to summarize the available data of domestic and foreign scientific literature on the quantitative anatomical variability of human metatarsal bones according to direct and indirect X-ray osteometry and its scientific and practical significance. The material for the study was foreign and domestic literature sources from 1983 to 2025. The inclusion criterion for the study was the presence of sources in certified databases, their indexing in domestic and world bibliographic databases of scientific data. The sources were selected by the following keywords: foot skeleton, metatarsu6, metatarsal bones, foot, human foot bones, osteometry, x-ray osteometry, foot computed tomography and some others. A total of 66 sources were selected. A descriptive method of analysis was used. Modern data on comparative anatomical features of variability of the foot skeleton and metapodia of humans and hominids are summarized. It is proven that anatomical variability of both direct and x-ray osteometry indices of the metatarsal bones of the human foot plays a significant role in the sex, age, height, and in some cases ethnic and racial characteristics identifying. The research results obtained in recent decades, in addition to their application for bio-identification in anthropology and forensic medicine, can be used to develop normal indicators necessary for the diagnosis of various diseases and conditions, as well as for planning surgical interventions and creating individualized orthopedic products.