Navicular bone of foot

The navicular bone of the foot is a wedge-shaped tarsal bone of the midfoot. It sits between the head of the talus behind and the three cuneiform bones in front. (StatPearls, Navicular Bone; OpenStax A&P 2e, 8.4)

Latin os naviculare (Wikipedia, Navicular bone, CC BY-SA 4.0) · FMA24499 · Skeletal system

The right ankle and foot skeleton from above, the other bones faded, with the navicular bone highlighted between the talus behind it and the three cuneiform bones in front. — The navicular bone of the right foot in the ankle and foot model, seen from above. Render: ScienceQuest, CC BY 4.0. Meshes: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0

The navicular bone of the right foot on its own, seen from the medial side, its tuberosity towards you. — The navicular bone of the right foot alone, seen from the medial side. Render: ScienceQuest, CC BY 4.0. Meshes: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0

Open it in the Ankle and Foot Skeleton Explorer See it alone in 3D

Where is the navicular bone?

It lies in the midfoot with the cuboid and the three cuneiforms, and it articulates with five tarsal bones: the talus, the cuboid and the medial, intermediate and lateral cuneiforms. (StatPearls, Navicular Bone; OpenStax A&P 2e, 8.4)

What are the parts of the navicular bone?

Its back is concave and covered in cartilage, and it takes the head of the talus. Its front divides into three facets: the largest for the medial cuneiform, a flat one for the intermediate and the smallest for the lateral. (StatPearls, Navicular Bone)

On its medial end, the navicular tuberosity takes the tendon of tibialis posterior and the plantar and medial navicular ligaments. (StatPearls, Navicular Bone)

Which tendons and joints hold the navicular bone?

Tibialis posterior is the only tendon that inserts on the navicular. StatPearls names it the main dynamic stabilizer of the hindfoot, because it preserves the medial longitudinal arch. (StatPearls, Navicular Bone)

With the head of the talus and the anterior and middle articular surfaces of the calcaneus, it forms the talocalcaneonavicular joint, called the acetabulum pedis for its likeness to the hip. The plantar calcaneonavicular (spring) ligament supports that joint on the medial side. (StatPearls, Navicular Bone)

What does the navicular bone do?

Its three joints with the cuneiforms converge underneath and form the transverse tarsal arch of the foot. (StatPearls, Navicular Bone)

Its joint with the talus takes part in inversion and eversion of the foot, alongside the subtalar joint. (OpenStax A&P 2e, 9.6; StatPearls, Foot Talus)

Does the navicular bone vary between people?

Some people have an accessory navicular, an extra ossicle beside the navicular tuberosity that makes a bony bump on the medial side of the foot. (StatPearls, Navicular Bone)

Where the sources differ

OpenStax classes every joint between tarsal bones as a plane joint. StatPearls describes the navicular’s joint with the head of the talus as a ball-and-socket joint. (OpenStax A&P 2e, 9.6; StatPearls, Navicular Bone)

Navicular bone of foot at a glance, with sources
Feature	Detail and source
Bone type	Short bone, one of the seven tarsals (OpenStax A&P 2e, 6.2 and 8.4; Gray’s Anatomy (1918), Classes of bones, p. 79; StatPearls, Foot and Ankle)
Articulates with	Talus, cuboid and the three cuneiforms (StatPearls, Navicular Bone)
Tendon	Tibialis posterior, the only one (StatPearls, Navicular Bone)

Touches in this model

Measured on the BodyParts3D meshes: surfaces within 2 mm of the navicular bone of foot, nearest first.

Right cuboid bone in contact
Right intermediate cuneiform bone in contact
Right talus in contact
Right extensor hallucis brevis in contact
Right tibialis posterior in contact
Skin in contact
Right medial cuneiform bone 0.2 mm away
Right lateral cuneiform bone 0.6 mm away
Right tibialis anterior 1.0 mm away

Sources

StatPearls, Anatomy, Bony Pelvis and Lower Limb: Navicular Bone. Devindra Prapto; Mark A. Dreyer. Last update August 21, 2023. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.
OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e, section 8.4, Bones of the Lower Limb. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.
OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e, section 9.6, Anatomy of Selected Synovial Joints. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.
StatPearls, Anatomy, Bony Pelvis and Lower Limb, Foot Talus. Irfan A. Khan; Matthew A. Varacallo. Last update August 8, 2023. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.
OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e, section 6.2, Bone Classification. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.
Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body, 20th US edition (1918), edited by Warren H. Lewis, Osteology, introduction: long, short, flat and irregular bones (p. 79). Henry Gray; Warren H. Lewis (editor). Public domain. Read 2026-10-25.
StatPearls, Anatomy, Bony Pelvis and Lower Limb: Foot and Ankle. Jennifer Ficke; Adegbenro O. Fakoya; Doug W. Byerly. Last update May 24, 2026. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.