The chief characteristic of this arch is its elasticity, due to its height and to the number of small joints between its component parts.

spring ligament, which is elastic and is thus able to quickly restore the arch to its original condition when the disturbing force is removed.

[1] At the posterior part of the metatarsus and the anterior part of the tarsus the arches are complete, but in the middle of the tarsus they present more the characters of half-domes, the concavities of which are directed downward and medialward, so that when the medial borders of the feet are placed in apposition a complete tarsal dome is formed.

[1] The medial longitudinal arch in particular creates a space for soft tissues with elastic properties, which act as springs, particularly the thick plantar aponeurosis, passing from the heel to the toes.

Additionally, high or low arches can increase the risk of shin splints as the anterior tibialis must work harder to keep the foot from slapping the ground.

It is often held that their feet lack longitudinal arches, but footprints made by bipedally walking apes, which must directly or indirectly reflect the pressure they exert to support and propel themselves [10][11] do suggest that they exert lower foot pressure under the medial part of their midfoot.

[15] On the other hand, the primitive trait of arch-less feet in our great ape relatives has been maintained because of selection for grasping tree branches as a part of their arboreal lifestyle.

[17] It is not yet agreed to what extent the early human ancestor Australopithecus afarensis, (3.75 million years ago onwards) had acquired a functionally human-like foot,[9] but the medial twist of the forefoot evident in fossil footbones of this species, and in the Laetoli footprint trail in Tanzania generally attributed to this species, certainly appears less marked than is evident in fossil footbones of Homo erectus (sometimes called Homo georgicus) from Dmanisi, Georgia (c. 1.

8 million years ago) [18] and the roughly contemporaneous fossil footprint trail at Ileret, Kenya attributed to Homo erectus ergaster.