How many ribs are in the skeletal system of men and women?

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This question comes up regularly partly due to the persistent claim that men have one less pair of ribs than women because of the rib that God removed from Adam to make Eve. This is supposed to somehow enhance the credibilty of the Bible. I say, if it needs help that bad, it's in big trouble. Surgically removing a rib, essentially what the Bible describes in Genesis, would not alter Adam genetically, so that it would not affect his offspring. Amputees bear children with 2 arms, 2 legs, 10 fingers, and 10 toes. If that's not the source of your question, you can keep it at no extra charge. Now here's an actual answer prompted by the theological question, from the University of Cincinnati Clermont College:

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio105/ribs.htm

Over the last few years, I have received several e-mail message asking if the number of ribs is different in men and women. To correctly respond to these inquiries, I have researched this issue by looking up this information in several Anatomy and Physiology textbooks. All agree that, based on medical research (somebody actually dissected cadavers and counted ribs, somebody actually looked at x-rays and counted ribs), men and women have the same number of ribs as each other. For example, one book says:

Twelve pairs of flexible, archlike ribs form the lateral portions of the thoracic cage. They increase in length from the first to the seventh and then decrease again from the eighth to the twelfth. (Weinreb, E. L. 1984. Anatomy and Physiology. Addison Wesley Publ. Co., Inc. Menlo Park, CA. p. 345.)

Answer

Enough of the gobbledegook. This is a straight forward question. Men and women both have 12 pairs of ribs.

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First answer by Jalex137. Last edit by Cortez. Contributor trust: 112 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 47 [recommend question]


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