Sentence:  One growth center in a short bone - distal phalanx of the second finger - was chosen as an example for discussion here , primarily because epiphyseal diaphyseal fusion , the maturity indicator for Completion in <WSD>long</WSD> and short bones , occurs in this center for girls near the menarche and for boys near their comparable pubescent stage . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  in limbs of vertebrate animals: a long cylindrical bone that contains marrow