podotheca

plural podothecae

1. biologyThe scaly or skin covering of the foot of a bird or animal.

   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

   2 more examples

   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