Description
The floating ribs are one of the three groups of ribs in the thoracic cage, the other two being the true and false ribs. The floating ribs consist of the eleventh and twelfth ribs and are classified as “floating” because their corresponding costal cartilages do not attach them to any other bone or costal cartilage. Instead they are found as free ends in the abdominal wall.
The floating ribs are also known as vertebral ribs since they articulate both:
- posteriorly, with the vertebrae;
- anteriorly, with numerically corresponding costal cartilages that are attached to no other bone or costal cartilage.
Related parts of the anatomy
