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Updated: Aug 11, 2026
Skeletal Muscle Gender Dimorphism from Proteomics
Published on: December 14, 2011
Sexual dimorphism of human ribs
François Bellemare1, Tambwe Fuamba, André Bourgeault
1Laboratoire du Sommeil, Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM) - Hôtel-Dieu, 3840 St.-Urbain, Montréal (Qué.), Canada H2W 1T8. bellemaf@colba.net
Abstract:
The volume of the rib cage is about 10% smaller in females than in males having the same height although the reason for this is presently unclear. The cranio-caudal inclination of ribs is greater in females than males but the length of ribs has not previously been compared between the sexes. In 23 males and 23 females studied at necropsy, body length, the length of the upper and lower limbs and the length of the thoracic spine were all smaller in females but the ratios of upper and lower limb lengths to body length and of thoracic spine length to body length were not different. By contrast, the lengths of the third, sixth and ninth ribs were not significantly different between males and females and the ratios of rib length to body length were all significantly greater in females. We conclude that in females the ribs grow longer in relation to the axial skeleton than in males.
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