Editing Tibia (section)

===Development===
The tibia is [[ossified]] from three [[ossification center|centers]]: a [[ossification center#primary center|primary center]] for the [[diaphysis]] (shaft) and a secondary center for each [[epiphysis]] (extremity). Ossification begins in the center of the body, about the seventh week of fetal life, and gradually extends toward the extremities.

The center for the upper epiphysis appears before or shortly after birth at close to 34 weeks gestation; it is flattened in form, and has a thin tongue-shaped process in front, which forms the [[tuberosity]]; that for the lower epiphysis appears in the second year.

The lower epiphysis fuses with the tibial shaft at about the eighteenth, and the upper one fuses about the twentieth year.

Two additional centers occasionally exist, one for the tongue-shaped process of the upper epiphysis, which forms the tuberosity, and one for the [[medial malleolus]].

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