Third rib at a glance
- Also called
- Rib 3
- What it is
- The third rib. A typical rib.
- Location
- Part of the thoracic cage, curving from the third thoracic vertebra behind around the chest wall toward the front. A true rib.
- Function
- Protects the thoracic organs and, by moving at its vertebral joints, changes chest volume during breathing.
- Body system
- Skeletal · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA8039 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Typical rib: the head has two facets articulating with its own vertebra and the one above, and the tubercle articulates with the transverse process; the costal groove along the lower border protects the intercostal vessels and nerve.
- Pectoralis minor arises from ribs 3–5 near their costal cartilages.
- Ribs 3–9 are the typical ribs; ribs 1, 2, 10, 11 and 12 have special features.
Structures next to the third rib
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Second rib · skeletal
- Fourth rib · skeletal
- First posterior intercostal artery · cardiovascular
- Pulmonary artery · cardiovascular
- Subclavius · muscular
- First costal cartilage · skeletal
- Subclavian artery · cardiovascular
- Superior vena cava · cardiovascular
- Superior pulmonary vein · cardiovascular
- Clavicle · skeletal
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Third rib (FMA8039). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §7.1 Divisions of the Skeletal System. Rice University, 2022.
- 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.