Rib cage anatomy

Also known as: ribs, rib cage, chest, sternum, breastbone

Twelve pairs of ribs, their costal cartilages and the sternum protect the heart and lungs and move with breathing.

Open in the 3D explorer Locate structures Quiz: skeleton

3D model of the Rib cage in the Anatomy Nexus anatomy atlas — Interactive 3D model: Rib cage. Orbit, zoom and click the structures.Load the 3D model

Overview page. A full anatomy article for the rib cage has not been written yet; below are the modelled structures, the system it belongs to and every clinical topic that mentions it.

Structures in the atlas 41

The modelled pieces that make up the rib cage in the 3D atlas. Each opens in the explorer.

The skeleton in brief

The adult skeleton has 206 bones plus the cartilages that cap joints, join the ribs to the sternum and shape the nose and airway. It is organised into an axial skeleton (skull, vertebral column, ribs and sternum) that protects the brain, spinal cord, heart and lungs, and an appendicular skeleton (the limbs with their girdles) built for movement. Bone is living tissue: it remodels throughout life in response to load, stores calcium and phosphate, and houses the marrow that makes blood cells.

All structures of the skeleton