Michael E. Wincel, age 11, of New Whiteland, Indiana, for his question:

Do male and female skeletons have the same number of ribs?

The average human skeleton, male or female, has about 206 bones. The bendable backbone is a row of interlocking vertebrae. The seven at the top support the neck. The 12 below these are the thoracic vertebrae that support the trunk and provide rear anchors for the ribs. The ribs are arranged in pairs, one pair to each of the 12 thoracic vertebrae. Hence, the standard quota of ribs per person is 24    male or female.

At the back of the rib cage, each pair of ribs is anchored to a vertebra of the spine. From here, the bony ladder swoops around to the front of the body. The seven upper pairs of ribs are attached to the breastbone and are called the true ribs. The others are called false ribs. The three top pairs are attached to each other by pliable bands of cartilage. The lowest two pairs are the floating ribs, attached at the back and unattached in front. This arrangement of 24 ribs is the same in both the male and female skeleton.