Base of stapes; Footplate

The two limbs (crus anterius and crus posterius) diverge from the neck and are connected at their ends by a flattened oval plate, the base of stapes (footplate ; basis stapedis), which forms the foot-plate of the stirrup and is fixed to the margin of the fenestra vestibuli by a ring of ligamentous fibers. Of the two crura the anterior is shorter and less curved than the posterior.