Morton's toe recorded prevalence varies in different populations, with estimates from 2.95% to 22%. The name derives from American orthopedic surgeon Dudley Joy Morton (1884–1960), who originally described it as part of Morton's triad (a.k.a. Morton's syndrome or Morton's foot syndrome): a congenital short first metatarsal bone, a hypermobile first metatarsal segment and calluses under the second and third metatarsals. Confusion has arisen from "Morton's foot" being used for a different condition, Morton's metatarsalgia, which affects the space between the bones and is named after Thomas George Morton (1835–1903). Morton's toe, especially the second-toe-is-longer versions, has a long association with disputed anthropological
Names for the human species "Homo", e.g. "Homo paniscus", "Homo sylvestris", or "Homo arboreus". An alternative philosophy suggests that the term "Homo sapiens" is the misnomer and that humans should be reclassified as "Pan sapiens". In either case, a name change of the genus would have implications on the taxonomy of extinct species closely related to humans, including "Australopithecus". A taxonomic name given to the species of the last common ancestors of humans and chimpanzees is "Pan prior". The following names mimick binomial nomenclature, mostly consisting of "Homo" followed by a Latin adjective characterizing human nature. Most of them were coined since the mid 20th