Knee the cartilage both on the femur and the tibia, but on the femur, the suprapatellar bursa or recess extends the joint space proximally. The suprapatellar bursa is prevented from being pinched during extension by the articularis genus muscle. Behind, the synovial membrane is attached to the margins of the two femoral condyles which produces two extensions similar to the anterior recess. Between these two extensions, the synovial membrane passes in front of the two cruciate ligaments at the center of the joint, thus forming a pocket direct inward. Numerous bursae surround the knee joint. The largest communicative bursa is the
Stifle joint the joint into two functional units—the 'femoromeniscal joint' for flexion/extension movements and the 'meniscotibial joint' for rotation—a function analogous to that of the disc dividing the temporomandibular (jaw) joint. The menisci also contain nerve endings which are used to assist in proprioreception. The menisci are attached via a variety of ligaments: two meniscotibial ligaments for each meniscus, the meniscofemoral from the lateral meniscus to the femur, the meniscocollateral from the medial meniscus to the medial collateral ligament, and the transverse ligament (or intermeniscal) which runs between the two menisci. There are between one and four sesamoid bones associated with the