The tapered base of the stereocilium adjacent to where it joins the hair cell body. This region contains a rootlet comprised of bundled actin filaments which spans the joint and stabilizes the stereocilium. [ GOC:krc http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20170899 ]
Synonyms: stereocilium taper
This is just here as a test because I lose it