Rib
Encyclopedia : R : RI : RIB : Rib
- This article is about the bones called ribs. For other meanings, see rib (disambiguation).
In anatomy, ribs (Latin costae) are the long curved bones which form the rib cage. Ribs surround the chest (Latin thorax) of land vertebrates, and protect the lungs, heart, and other internal organs of the thoracic cavity.
In mammals, one generally thinks of ribs occurring only in the chest. However, fused-on remnants of ribs can be traced in development in neck vertebrae (cervical ribs) and sacral vertebrae.
In reptiles, ribs sometimes occur in all vertebrae from the neck to the sacrum.
Fish can have up to four ribs on each vertebra and this can easily be seen in the herring, although not all fish have this many.
Humans (both male and female) have 24 ribs (12 sets). This was noted by the Flemish anatomist Vesalius in 1543 setting off a wave of controversy.
See also
- Floating ribs
- Human rib cage
- Bone terminology
- Terms for anatomical location
|
| HEAD: Forehead – Eye – Ear – Nose – Mouth – Tongue – Teeth – Jaw – Face – Cheek – Chin TORSO: Shoulders – Spine – Chest – Breast – Ribcage – Abdomen – Belly button LIMBS: Arm – Elbow – Forearm – Wrist – Hand – Finger (Thumb - Index finger - Middle finger - Ring finger - Little finger) – Leg – Lap – Thigh – Knee – Calf – Heel – Ankle – Foot – Toe (Hallux) |
References
- Clinically Oriented Anatomy, 4th ed. Keith L. Moore and Robert F. Dalley. pp. 62-64
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.