Anthropometry　is　widely　applied　to　the　research　in　skeleton　extraction　from　surface　meshes　of　human　body.　Especially　the　anatomical　proportion　can　be　employed　as　a　benchmark　in　model　segmentation　and　joint　extraction.　Unfortunately,　the　anatomical　proportion　is　usually　measured　with　the　Euclidean　distance,　which　makes　it　difficult　to　correlate　it　with　the　surface　mesh.　To　bridge　this　gap,　we　take　advantage　of　the　property　of　the　geodesic　metrics　that　is　invariance　to　rotation,　translation,　scaling　and　model　pose,　and　propose　an　original　geodesic　model　in　which　the　length　of　each　part　of　human　body　is　measured　by　geodesic　metrics,　by　which　the　anatomic　proportions　can　be　directly　mapped　to　the　contours　of　the　mesh　surface　of　human　body　in　arbitrary　pose.　Combining　the　geodesic　model　with　automatic　extraction　of　feature　points,　we　can　determine　the　candidate　scopes　of　joint　positions　and　boundaries　between　the　parts　on　meshes,　and　then　refine　the　joint　positions　in　the　scopes　using　existing　methods.　And　finally,　we　illustrate　the　utility　of　the　geodesic　model　with　an　application　to　joint　extraction.　©　2010　IEEE.