Rabbits are fascinating creatures and always have been the center of attention regarding wildlife. Whether it is for experimentation (sadly), meat, breeding, or raising, bunnies have been a good option. People have been eager to know about the little creature as much as possible.
In today’s age, almost everything is crystal clear about these furry little animals. Due to their tiny stature, people often wonder what goes under the skin of bunnies. Rabbits have tiny bodies, but they can jump pretty high. It is possible due to their skeletal structure. So, how many bones does a rabbit have?
Rabbits have a total of 260 bones in their body. Of these bones, 132 are axial bones, and 128 are appendicular bones. Each part of a rabbit has multiple tiny bones to support it. Due to a large number of bones as compared to their tiny stature, rabbits can jump very high in length and height.
Raising a rabbit is more challenging than it sounds if you avoid preparing to take proper care of the animal. Rabbits have fragile bone structures and need safety to live an injury-free life. To raise a healthy rabbit, gathering information about the animal is pertinent. Read on to learn more about the bone structure of your precious pet so that you can safely provide it with the best living standards.
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The Two Main Components of The Skeleton
A rabbit’s skeleton consists of two main components: axial and appendicular skeleton. The axial skeleton of a rabbit includes the skull, ribs, vertebrae, and sternum.
On the other hand, a bunny’s appendicular skeleton includes the pectoral and pelvic girdle and the upper and lower limbs.
A furry rabbit’s skeleton has many tiny bones that play a vital role in the animal’s health, movement, and hopping activities.
Detail Of The Rabbit’s Axial Skeleton
Learning about a rabbit’s bone structures is a big deal due to the large number of bones in the animal. Most of the bunny’s bones serve as bridges, joints, and passages for many significant bones in the skeleton. Here is an overview of the valuable bones of a furry little bunny rabbit:
Axial Skeleton Of A Bunny Rabbit | |
The Skull | Cranium Sensory capsules Visceral skeleton |
The Vertebral Column | Cervical Thoracic Lumbar Sacral Caudal |
1. The Skull
The rabbit’s skull is dicondylic, which means it has two occipital condyles. Furthermore, rabbits’ nasal and food passage openings are far from each other, preventing unexpected choking. The skull has various parts:
The Cranium
The animal’s skull has a cranium, which helps in protecting the brain. The cranium consists of a posterior occipital segment, middle parietal segment, and anterior frontal segment.
The occipital segment of the skull has four cartilaginous bones that make one more significant part: the spinal cord opening. The segment is attached to facets of the rabbit’s first vertebrae in the backbone.
The parietal segment has a division due to squamosals and auditory capsules and is in front of the occipital segment. This segment has five bones: a triangular basisphenoid, an alisphenoid, two parietals, and interparietal bones. The dorsal surface of the triangular basisphenoid has a crater, which holds the pituitary gland of the bunny.
The frontal segment of a rabbit’s skull includes five bones: a presphenoid, two orbitosphenoids, and two frontals. The presphenoid is the floor for the front part of the cranium. On the other hand, the two orbitosphenoids make the sides of the frontal region. The frontals are large bones that protect the brain from the dorsal and lateral sides of the skull.
The Sensory Capsules
These capsules have parts responsible for the bunny rabbit’s olfactory, auditory, and visual senses.
The olfactory capsule has the nasal, vomer, and turbinals. The nasal part of this capsule opens open in the rabbit’s nostrils. These are two flat bones that join each other with a mid-dorsal line. Two vomers make the floor of the olfactory capsule and are wing-like parts. Each nasal has half cartilaginous and half bony septum that separates them. These bones are ethmoturbinals, maxilloturbinal and nasoturbinal.
The auditory capsules amalgamate two bones: the periotic and tympanic. The periotic bone has further divisions into prootic, epiotic, and opisthotic bones. It is here that you can locate a rabbit’s cochlea. The tympanic bone contains the cavity where you can find the three ear ossicles, the malleus, incus, and stapes.
The orbits are responsible for the rabbit’s vision. These are on the sides of the frontal segment of the cranium, with each orbit containing a wall-like structure of orbital ridge, orbitosphenoid, alisphenoid and ethmoid bones.
The Visceral Skeleton
It includes the rabbit’s upper and lower jaw with the hyoid apparatus. The upper jaw of your furry friend contains five bones that help it with optimal movement: premaxillae, maxillae, jugals, pterygoids, and palatines.
The lower jaw of the animal has two halves. Two single bones join in the front with the mandibular symphysis, making up the bunny’s lower jaw.
The hyoid is present between the two halves of the mandible. It is a bony structure located under the tongue of the animal. It has multiple smaller bones: ceratohyal, epihyal, stylohyal and tympanohyal.
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2. The Vertebral Column
Rabbits have a total number of 45 to 47 vertebrae in their spinal column. It has five divisions: cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and caudal.
Cervical
The first two vertebrae are significant as they make up the support for the neck and skull. These are the atlas and axis. The cervical has seven vertebrae in total.
Thoracic
These 12-13 vertebrae are smooth and carry the neural spine upward. Thoracic vertebrae have thoracic ribs, which are 12 to 13 pairs at most.
Lumbar
Lumbar vertebrae are 7 in total, with the first two as anterior lumbar. It encloses a broad neural canal and a neural spine.
Sacral
It contains four vertebrae that join to form a sacrum bone. Each vertebra has a neural spine; the first vertebra is significant for supporting neural activity. The sacral joins the pelvic girdle at the sacroiliac joint.
Caudal
These are sixteen in number, and the neural spine processes gradually reduce near the end of the tail. The complicated neural process does not happen here, only the tail movement. The first six pairs of sternal ribs also join these vertebrae.
Detail Of The Rabbit’s Appendicular Skeleton
The appendicular skeleton of a rabbit has further divisions:
Appendicular Skeleton Of A Bunny Rabbit | |
The Pectoral Girdle | ScapulocoracoidSmall clavicle bone |
The Pelvic Girdle | Two halves Each with three bones – Ilium – Ischium – Pubis |
The Forelimb Bones | Upper-arm Humerus Deltoid ridge Forearm Radius and Ulna Wrist with 9 bones – Radiale – Ulnare – Intermedium – Trapezium – Trapezoid – Centrale – Magnum – Unciform (2 halves) – Sesamoid pisciform |
The Hindlimb Bones | Thigh bone Femur Tibiofibular bones Ankle with 6 tarsi – Tarsals (2) – Tibiale – Intermedium – Centrale – Mesocuneiform – Ectocuneiform – Cuboid |
Pectoral Girdle
It consists of two halves, the scapulocoracoid and a small clavicle bone between the thoracic ribs and forelimbs. It supports the bunny’s forelimbs and protects the rabbit’s body’s soft parts from the ventral side by forming the rabbit’s spine that has muscle attachments to it.
Pelvic Girdle
It has two halves that make the rabbit’s hip bone. Each half is present between the hindlimbs of the rabbit and has three bones: the ilium, ischium, and pubis.
Forelimb Bones
The upper-arm bone of a rabbit is known as the humerus. There is a projection called the deltoid ridge where the limb muscles attach. The forearm bones are the radius and ulna. These two bones attach to the wrist and close together from the ends to prevent overlapping.
The wrist of the bunny rabbit has nine bones. These bones are present in two rows. The proximal row has three bones: radiale, ulnare, and intermedium. On the other hand, the distal row has the trapezium, trapezoid, centrale, magnum, and unciform with two halves. Sesamoid pisciform bone is present in the carpus. The palm bones have phalanges that are openings for claws.
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Hindlimb Bones
The femur is the thigh bone with a flattened end for muscles to attach. The tibiofibular bones articulate the ankle bones of the furry creature while attaching to the femur bones to complete the leg structure.
The ankle of a cute bunny consists of six tarsi in three rows. The first row is the proximal row, comprising two tarsals, a tibiale, and intermedium bones. The middle row only has the centrale bone. The distal row consists of mesocuneiform, ectocuneiform, and cuboid. The sole has four toes with three phalanges in each for the claws. Rabbit’s first tow does not exist by nature.
Final Word
As you can see, rabbits have many complicated bones with hard-to-pronounce names. Each bone has a unique feature, essential for the little guy’s survival. Rabbits have such tiny bones that 260 bones can fit in such a tiny body. Handling rabbits with utmost care is crucial to prevent any skeletal damage to the poor animal.
You might not even notice a broken bone in a furry rabbit before it is too late due to its tiny nature. It is best to be cautious when building your precious furry friend’s cage, play area, and handling. If you notice any odd or restricted behavior in your bunny that can be due to a bone injury, contact your vet without hesitation and with haste.