Rib cage
The rib cage is the arrangement of ribs attached to the vertebral column and sternum in the thorax of most vertebrates, that encloses and protects the heart and lungs. In humans, the rib cage, also known as the thoracic cage, is a bony and cartilaginous structure which surrounds the thoracic cavity and supports the shoulder girdle to form the core part of the human skeleton. A typical human rib cage consists of 24 ribs in 12 pairs, the sternum and xiphoid process, the costal cartilages, and the 12 thoracic vertebrae.
Rib removal
Barbara Mikkelson of Snopes.com suggests that Florenz Ziegfeld might have started such a rumor about his protegée Anna Held to publicize her career. Similar stories have been spread about later celebrities. Cher hired a physician in 1990 to confirm that she has a full set of ribs. It was rumored that Marilyn Manson had ribs removed to facilitate autofellatio.
Interviewed for a "Vogue" article in 2000, John E. Sherman of Weill Cornell Medical College said that while such a procedure was theoretically possible, there was no record of it in the medical literature.