How many ribs does a woman have compared to a man?

Answer 1

Equal number; 12 pairs = 24

A caution for those of you who dislike thinking about theological issues or who are bothered by the concept that biological science and theology might not disagree: you might not want to bother reading the rest of this Web page.

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.)

So from where did the “urban legend” that women have more ribs come? I don’t know for sure, but here is my guess. As I mentioned on my History of Science Web page, back in the Middle Ages, people came up with all sorts of ideas that were commonly thought to be true and were even put into print, but were never tested, never verified. For example, someone decided that that since giraffes had spots, they must result from a cross-breeding between a leopard and a camel, but no one ever actually did anything to check and see if this was really true or possible! I recall reading that a heavily-debated topic back then was the number of teeth that horses have. Numerous people vehemently insisted on a variety of numbers, and no one would or could agree with each other, yet no one ever actually opened a horse’s mouth and counted its teeth! The notion that women have more ribs than men sounds suspiciously like an idea that could have arisen back then. (But see, in making that statement, I just did the same thing, right?)



So, why would anyone think that? The notion that women have an extra set of ribs is probably based on a misinterpretation of some Bible verses in Genesis. The actual quote is:

But for Adam, no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and brought her to the man.
(Genesis 2: 20b - 22, NIV © 1983 by Zondervan Corp.)
Notice what this doesn’t say. It doesn’t say anything about how many ribs Adam had before or after this “surgery,” and especially it says nothing, whatsoever, about how many ribs Eve had! Nowhere does it say that Eve had more ribs than Adam. Who made that assumption without checking? Wouldn't it be just as logical to guess (also without checking) that if she was created “second” that God might have made her with the same number of ribs as the new, reduced number that Adam now had? Wouldn’t it really be more logical to guess that God might have created her with the same number of ribs as Adam just to avoid confusion? Genesis doesn't say one way or the other, so the only way to know is to cut open cadavers and start counting. Who has done that — the theologians or the biologists? My guess is that, once again, if human misinterpretations are set aside and if it is remembered that theology looks at “why” while science looks at “how,” there is no “conflict” between what the Bible, itself, is saying and what biologists know to be true about our bodies.

A reader of this Web page sent me an e-mail message with another point worth remembering. If, for example, a person would accidentally lose a finger or would have a body part surgically removed, then subsequently that person would create a baby, that baby would still be born with all his or her body parts. Similarly, if Adam had a rib removed, that does not mean that we, his children, would have missing ribs.

Unlike people in the Middle Ages, we do science these days (most of the time). We don’t just guess at how many teeth horses have or how many ribs people have. We get in there and count them, and then we know: both men and women have twelve pairs of ribs.

Another reader of this Web page sent me e-mail stating that (s)he had read some “religious literature” which made the even-more-preposterous claim that men are lopsided, that they are missing a rib on the left side. Would-be theologians who don’t do their “homework,” who don’t have high standards for scholarly research before publishing, and who, as a result, publish such misleading information are acting very irresponsibly and only contribute to the poor reputation that “religion” has among some people in our society. I would encourage publishing companies to insure that articles and books that are submitted for publication are thoroughly peer-reviewed by recognized experts prior to publication. I would encourage seminaries to require a minimum of non-majors’ biology, anatomy and physiology, and non-majors’ physics courses as part of their degree programs (remember that the clergy you are training will be expected to make hospital visits and counsel people with marital problems in addition to preaching sermons).

If you’re still not convinced, OK, don’t take my word for it. Be skeptical — it’s good for you. However, don’t stop there. Go do your own research and find out for yourself. Go read an anatomy textbook and look at the pictures. Search the Web for more digitized x-rays and photographs. Find a local high school or college that has a skeleton sitting in its biology classroom, and make an appointment to go count ribs. See if that school offers an anatomy and physiology course in which you could enroll. Find a local university, nursing school, or medical school that has cadavers, and find somebody at that school who has some time to spend with you. Arrange to go there, grab a scalpel, and start counting.

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
How many ribs does a woman have compared to a man?

Answer 3

men and women have the same number of ribs ...12 pair or 24. sometimes individuals are born with an extra rib(which actrually happens more frequently than you think) of these individuals with the extra rib, females appear more frequently than men but it occurs in both sexes.

Answer 4

The same number, just watch any of those cop shows that solves old murders. They always tell the sex of a skeleton by looking at the pelvic bones, not by the ribs. The whole women have more ribs is an old christian myth propagated by ignorant people.

Answer 5

Males and females have the same bones, including the same number of ribs.

Answer 6

Humans have 24 ribs, if you are harboring the idea that it is different your ideas probably stem from Urban legends derived from Christian belief about how man and woman were created. These bibilical stories are allegories and historical devices used to teach moral lessons, and often have no basis in fact.

Answer 7

The same number

Answer 8

good q, most beleive that women have 1 more (adam and eve story) but in fact we have the same amount.

Answer 9

Maybe Adam had one extra, then gave one away lol

Answer 10

That is right spitfire!