Skip to content
EasyAnatomyLab
Menu

Third costal cartilage: anatomy, location and function

The bar of hyaline cartilage that connects the third rib to the sternum. Gives the rib cage elasticity, allowing the chest wall to expand during breathing.

Loading 3D model…
Skin0%
Muscles100%

Structures

Loading… Click the model or search.

Highlighted in the model: Third costal cartilage. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

Third costal cartilage at a glance

Also called
Costal cartilage 3
What it is
The bar of hyaline cartilage that connects the third rib to the sternum.
Location
Extends forward from the front end of rib 3. Joins the body of the sternum directly.
Function
Gives the rib cage elasticity, allowing the chest wall to expand during breathing.
Body system
Skeletal · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA8058 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • The sternocostal joints of cartilages 2–7 are usually synovial plane joints; the costochondral joints between rib and cartilage are primary cartilaginous and do not move.
  • The internal thoracic vessels run vertically behind cartilages 1–6, about 1 cm from the edge of the sternum.

Structures next to the third costal cartilage

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Third costal cartilage (FMA8058). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §7.1 Divisions of the Skeletal System. Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.

Related anatomy

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.