Tickle Your Funny Bone: Top 10 Amusing Facts About Ribs You Never Knew!

1. Equal Ribs for All!

Rumor has it that Adam from the Garden of Eden got cheated out of a rib and left men with one less ever since, but turns out mother nature isn't so heartless after all: both men and women usually sport a solid 24 ribs (12 on each side), but with a few quirky exceptions—5.3% of folks have bonus ribs, while 2.7% are missing a few, and ladies steal the show with a higher occurrence of rare cervical ribs.
Source => medicalnewstoday.com

2. Spare Ribs' World Tour

Ah, spare ribs - the Kevin Bacon of meat cuts: Tastier than you might imagine, and starring in lots of delicious roles across world cuisines. The serious reveal: Contrary to popular belief, spare ribs are not skimpy on meat, being sourced from the lower portion of a pig's rib cage with meat on top of the bones and in between, and making them a delightful choice in both Chinese and Southern American dishes.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

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3. Giraffe Neck Perks

Forget stretching your legs, giraffes are all about stretching their necks: With vertebrae that can be up to 10 inches long, a giraffe's neck not only helps them reach the treetops for lunch, but provides a high vantage point to spot predators, and even serves as a weapon in male-to-male 'necking' battles.
Source => clevelandzoosociety.org

4. Ribcage Dream Team

Whoever said teamwork makes the dream work must have looked at our ribs; they have a dream team of muscles working together to ensure we breathe, hiccup and belt out tunes: The thoracic wall boasts five muscles – external intercostal muscles, internal intercostal muscles, innermost intercostal muscles, subcostalis, and transversus thoracis – that collaborate to control our thoracic cavity's volume during respiration. These MVPs of our rib cage provide the flex and finesse we need to take a deep breath before plunging into that cannonball at the pool party.
Source => ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

5. Rib Protection Tips

Do your ribs a rib-tickling solid and safeguard these unsung heroes that keep our vital meats intact: broken ribs can result in severe complications such as tears in significant blood vessels or internal organs, making it crucial to guard against injuries, particularly if you engage in contact sports or suffer from osteoporosis - so lace up those protective gear, fortify your bone castle with calcium and vitamin D, and keep your abode trip-hazard-free!
Source => mayoclinic.org

6. Sheep Hearts: Human Research Helpers

Swap the stethoscope for shears: Sheep have proven to be valuable contributors in cardiovascular research, as their heart and circulatory systems closely resemble those of humans, making them an excellent model for studying heart conditions and treatments.
Source => ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

7. Heavenly Rib Vaults

If you've ever visited a Gothic cathedral and thought the ceilings looked perfect for some divine barbecue ribs, you might be onto something: Rib vaults, found in Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, romanesque, and gothic architecture, are frameworks of crossed or diagonal arched ribs, not for storing heavenly baby-backs, but to support the structure with thin stone panels to create higher, thinner walls and larger windows by directing loads to specific points like columns or piers.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

8. Ribs: A Prehistoric Delicacy

If you think you're a rib-tickling connoisseur because you can devour a rack of BBQ delights, think again, for you're indulging in a meal older than the joke about 'why the chicken crossed the road': Ribs take the trophy for being one of the oldest cuts of meat known to humans, with archaeological remnants proving that our prehistoric ancestors shared an appetite for these mouthwatering morsels, while the word "ribbon" and ribs share no culinary connection, as "ribbon" traces back to an Old French word meaning a decorative cloth strip.
Source => definitions.net

9. Floating Ribs' Hidden Secrets

Whoever thought ribs were just for barbecues, clearly never saw the 11th and 12th rib brothers: they've got a bone to pick with the term "floating ribs" and are here to set the record straight once and for all: While these cunning little ribcage renegades may appear unattached, they're actually intricately connected to the thoracic vertebrae in the back, secretly helping our lungs breathe a sigh of relief by giving them room to party during the inhale-exhale dance extravaganza.
Source => medicalnewstoday.com

10. The Rib-tickling Neck Bonus

Feeling a little extra rib-tickling in your neck? It's not a stand-up comedian gone rogue: it's actually a rare anatomical oddity known as a cervical rib! This amusing bonus rib, found above the first rib in the neck, may be fully formed or just a bony whisper of tissue fibers. However, roughly 1 in 10 people with this weird and wonderful rib may develop thoracic outlet syndrome, a less-than-hilarious condition causing neck and shoulder pain, arm numbness, and temporary loss of fine motor skills. But fear not, rib-tickling fanatics – treatments like physiotherapy, medication, and even surgery can alleviate this rib-induced commotion!
Source => nhs.uk