How many bones does a rabbit have?

Rabbit Talk  Forum

Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
alforddm":129pd0a4 said:
I've tried googling this and haven't found a good answer. I was hoping someone here might know.

Thanks everyone!

:shock:

Errrr hmm... domestic or cottontail?

And is this barnswallow... errr I mean rabbit... laden or unladen?
 
I dont know if you saw this site or not, but I found this:
There are 23 types of bones that make up a rabbit's skeleton: Cranium, scapula, spine, fibula, tibia, femur, ilium, sacrum, caudal vertebrae, calcaneus, tarsus, metatarsus, phalanges, ulna, ribs, radius, carpus, metacarpus, sternum, cervical vertebrae, atlas, mandible and maxilla.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/facts_5432602_skele ... abbit.html

Hope this helps.

https://www.google.com/search?q=rabbit+ ... B700%3B508

Then again... I found this:
The rabbit has a delicate skeleton compared with other mammals. It makes only 8% of the body weight, as compared to 12 to 13% in cats.

Here are some other important points to note about the rabbit skeletal system:

There are 46 bones that make up the spinal column alone, 7 cervical (the neck), 12 thoracic (the chest), 7 lumbar (the lower back), 4 sacral (the pelvis) and 16 coccigeal (the tail).
A rabbit's bones have extremely thin cortices and are easily shattered.
The lumbar vertebrae are elongated to allow for considerable flexion and extension during hopping, but this makes them susceptible to fracture.
The powerful hind limb musculature and light skeleton enable powerful jumping over long distances.
The hopping movement is made possible due to the hind legs being longer than the fore legs. Most of the elongation is below the stifle (the knee) in two bones, the tibia and fibula. The tibia is also prone to fracture.
Rabbit's hind legs can kick out with extreme force and if they struggle when they are picked up, or even when they stamp their feet violently on the ground, they are prone to fracture of their backbones (usually the 7th lumbar vertebra) and damage their spinal cord.
Rabbits have 7 tarsal bones (the ankle) and 4 digits on both hind legs, and 9 carpal bones (the wrist) and 5 digits on both fore legs. Each digit has an associated toenail.
 
Since you all have to be all smarty pants...let me give a little background on this. (insert but waggy smilie here I couldn't find it)

Remember the doe I culled a while back? Well, if ya'll remember she went in the bug box....do you see where this is going? I thought about it after I had put her in...that I probably should have stuck her in something to make sure I could retrieve all the small bones. At that point she had been in there a few days and I really didn't feel like trying to move her. So, now I'm digging through a bug box trying to find small bones. It's really not as bad as it sounds...it's mostly dry...

And I was going to spare you all the gory details...see what you made me do?

I dont know if you saw this site or not, but I found this:
There are 23 types of bones that make up a rabbit's skeleton: Cranium, scapula, spine, fibula, tibia, femur, ilium, sacrum, caudal vertebrae, calcaneus, tarsus, metatarsus, phalanges, ulna, ribs, radius, carpus, metacarpus, sternum, cervical vertebrae, atlas, mandible and maxilla.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/facts_5432602_skele ... abbit.html

Hope this helps.

Sorry, I need the exact number of bones...
 
Syberchick70":1yampl5f said:
I found this...
http://www.skullsunlimited.com/products/5789/domestic-rabbit-skeleton-disarticulated-skeleton.htm

There is a number at the bottom, where you can call and talk to someone.
Maybe they would know? :shrug:


Thank you for this suggestion. I did call them. A very nice gentleman explained that mammals all have the same number bones. It differs just by the tail. So for rabbits is 206 (the same as for humans) + a tail. Makes me feel kinda silly now that I needed to ask. :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
alforddm":2iarp66z said:
Syberchick70":2iarp66z said:
I found this...
http://www.skullsunlimited.com/products/5789/domestic-rabbit-skeleton-disarticulated-skeleton.htm

There is a number at the bottom, where you can call and talk to someone.
Maybe they would know? :shrug:


Thank you for this suggestion. I did call them. A very nice gentleman explained that mammals all have the same number bones. It differs just by the tail. So for rabbits is 206 (the same as for humans) + a tail. Makes me feel kinda silly now that I needed to ask. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Oh! Well yay! They knew the answer at least! :D
 
alforddm":2s7far5s said:
Thank you for this suggestion. I did call them. A very nice gentleman explained that mammals all have the same number bones. It differs just by the tail. So for rabbits is 206 (the same as for humans) + a tail. Makes me feel kinda silly now that I needed to ask. :lol: :lol: :lol:

This cannot be true. Sheep and goats have vastly different feet than most mammals. They couldn't possibly have the same number of toe bones. :? I know that from deboning their feet.
The same holds true for many marine mammals, whales don't even have rear legs...
 
Zass":2q2uqboi said:
alforddm":2q2uqboi said:
Thank you for this suggestion. I did call them. A very nice gentleman explained that mammals all have the same number bones. It differs just by the tail. So for rabbits is 206 (the same as for humans) + a tail. Makes me feel kinda silly now that I needed to ask. :lol: :lol: :lol:

This cannot be true. Sheep and goats have vastly different feet than most mammals. They couldn't possibly have the same number of toe bones. :? I know that from deboning their feet.
The same holds true for many marine mammals, whales don't even have rear legs...


hmmm Well, next time I'll try to keep better track of the bones and count them... :lol: :lol:
 
Well, if you really want to know how many bones a rabbit has, you can always take one apart and check :lol:
 
If we are going with all land based mammals with paws have the same number of bones, then a rabbit would have approximately 206+ the tail bones of 16. With this logic we are looking at a rabbit having 222 bones in their bodies.

I can give you a better kind of list of what bones to look for:
Skull
Lower Jaw
7 Cervical Vertebrae
12 Thoracic Vertebrae
7 Lumbar Vertebrae
4 Sacral (pelvic attaches here)
16 Coccidial (tail bones)
24 Rib
1 Xyphoid Process
2 Scapula
2 Pelvic halves
2 Humerous
2 Femur
2 Radius
2 Ulna
2 Tibia
2 Fibula
7 Carpal Bones for each front limb
5 Metacarpals (Each Foot)
5 Phalanges (Each Foot)
7 Tarsals (Each Foot)
4 Metatarsals (Each Foot)
4 Phalanges (Each Foot)


My math must be wrong, I only come up with 153 bones..... :hmm: :shrug:
 
Sagebrush":1r2kxtei said:
If we are going with all land based mammals with paws have the same number of bones, then a rabbit would have approximately 206+ the tail bones of 16. With this logic we are looking at a rabbit having 222 bones in their bodies.

I can give you a better kind of list of what bones to look for:
Skull
Lower Jaw
7 Cervical Vertebrae
12 Thoracic Vertebrae
7 Lumbar Vertebrae
4 Sacral (pelvic attaches here)
16 Coccidial (tail bones)
24 Rib
1 Xyphoid Process
2 Scapula
2 Pelvic halves
2 Humerous
2 Femur
2 Radius
2 Ulna
2 Tibia
2 Fibula
7 Carpal Bones for each front limb
5 Metacarpals (Each Foot)
5 Phalanges (Each Foot)
7 Tarsals (Each Foot)
4 Metatarsals (Each Foot)
4 Phalanges (Each Foot)


My math must be wrong, I only come up with 153 bones..... :hmm: :shrug:

Ahhh that was helpful! according to this list http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bo ... n_skeleton A "bunch" of the bones in the face/skull are counted seperatly. Then you have those tiny tiny bones in the inner ear...

So, the question remains why is the bone count for dog over 300?
 
Zass":1x9hmdbo said:
This cannot be true. Sheep and goats have vastly different feet than most mammals. They couldn't possibly have the same number of toe bones. :? I know that from deboning their feet.
The same holds true for many marine mammals, whales don't even have rear legs...

I just did a quick check. A human has 206, a dog has about 319, a cat has about 244.... obviously different numbers. :/
 
The variation between cat and human can be attributed to the tail bones. I have no idea why there is such a high difference between dogs and humans. Do dogs have more skull bones?
 
alforddm":1es18yjq said:
The variation between cat and human can be attributed to the tail bones. I have no idea why there is such a high difference between dogs and humans. Do dogs have more skull bones?

I wouldn't think there would be that many bones in the tail?? :shock:
They shouldn't even count the tail bones, since that can vary so much.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top