What Evolution Left Behind On Humans

Appendix
We all know about this one. You might even know someone who has had it removed. The appendix is a narrow, muscular tube attached to the large intestine. A common misconception is that this organ was used for digesting raw meat. It was actually used in our plant chewing days. It would aid in the digestion of cellulose. As the human diet changed, this organ stopped functioning, as it was no longer used. To be noted though, the appendix is rich with infection-fighting lymphoid cells, which leads some to think it still plays a role in our immune system. If the appendix did have this function, one would tend to believe that its routine removal would cause ill side effects.

Paranasal Sinuses
For as far back as I can remember, my mother always had sinus problems. Sometimes so bad she’d have to lay down just to make the pain bearable. Ironically, the sinus cavity serves little to no purpose for a human. The presence of our sinus cavities however actually do make our heads weigh less. The sinus cavity also adds warmth and moisture to the air we breathe.
In animals with an heightened sense of smell (like a dog or cat), the sinus cavities are lined with olfactory tissues. Some scientists believe that our ancestors had a much better sense of smell (our DNA contains broken genes for additional odor receptors) but for some reason we lost that ability. Possibly as man grew more intelligent and our hunting techniques evolved, better ways of hunting emerged without the use the sense of smell.

Vomeronasal Organ
A tiny pit on each side of the septum is lined with non functioning chemo-receptors. They may be all that remains of a once extensive pheromone-detecting ability.Taken from Wikipedia: Anatomical studies demonstrate that in the vomeronasal organ regresses during fetal development, as is the case with some other mammals, including apes, cetaceans, and some bats. There is no evidence of a neural connection between the organ and the brain in adult humans. Nevertheless, a small pit can be found in the nasal septum of some people, and some researchers have argued that this pit represents a functional vomeronasal organ. Thus, its possible presence in humans remains controversial.


Coccyx (AKA: The Tail Bone)
The coccyx is a set of fused vertebrae at the bottom of the spinal column. This is another useless remain of our ancestral past. It’s all that’s left of our tails, which disappeared from hominids before they began walking upright. The coccyx does serve as somewhat of a shock absorber, though that was not it’s original function.It is true that the coccyx has nine muscles attached to it, such as the muscle that is “necessary” for defecation. It should be noted that the coccyx, if surgically removed, does not cause any apparent health issues.

Extrinsic Ear Muscles
These three muscles most likely made it possible for prehominids to move their ears independently of their heads (again, like a cat or dog). We still have these muscles which is why most people can learn how to wiggle their ears.

Toes
While losing ones toes would cause problems with walking for awhile, we technically only need our big toe as a function to help keep our balance. Our toes were most likey used at one point for grasping on to things and climbing.


Third Eyelid
Somewhere along the evolutionary journey we actually had a third eye lid, much like you see on a frogs, for example. Humans retain a tiny fold in the inner corner of the eye.

SubclaviusSubclavius Muscle
This muscle stretches under our shoulder from the first rib to the collarbone. It would still be a useful part if humans still walked on all fours. Not all humans have one and a small number of us actually have two.

Male Nipples
Lactiferous ducts (the lobes of the mammary gland at the tip of the nipple) form well before the the testosterone is released that causes a fetus to be a male. Also, men have mammary tissue that can be stimulated to produce milk.

Wisdom Teeth
If you’re reading this, you’ve probably had your wisdom teeth removed. I had all four of mine pulled when I was in high school. Despite what you think, these teeth weren’t totally useless. Since early humans had to chew a lot of plants (to intake the amount of calories needed to survive) the more teeth the better. Another theory regarding wisdom teeth is that they were replacement teeth that were lost from wear and tear.

Erector Pili (ie. Goosebumps)
These are bundles of smooth muscle fibers that allow animals to puff up their fur to intimidate others. They also served the function of insulation when we had more body hair. While we still retain this ability our lack of body hair makes them useless. Ever get startled and you get goosebumps? Ever see the same thing on other animals? Not as intimidating when you don’t have the hair or fur to puff up.

Body Hair
Most of your body hair serves no function (though some think otherwise). Eyebrows keep sweat from going into your eyes, and male facial hair may play a role in sexual selection. Armpit and pubic hair help deal with moisture but beyond that it does us no good. Your arm and leg hair are just the remains of a once fully covered body of hair.

Male Uterus
While not exactly a evolutionary left over, the remains of the undeveloped female reproductive organ from our prenatal state still remains. This organ hangs off of the male prostate gland but obviously serves no purpose.

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I,ve heard of some but not all these things,and it makes sense when you think about it. I wonder what humans would look like after a few thousand more years of evolution? What other parts of us would become unnessesary or what other features we might develope?Hmmm!

and yet they still cry .....

" INTELLIGENT DESIGN!!!! "

Would finger and toe nails qualify as functionally redundant evolutionary left-overs? Or are they simply on their way to becoming redundant?

Although those women (and men) who use them for the application of coloured lacquer might disagree!

I thought that our appendix still worked but we just didn't really need it. oh well. But still wouldn't it be cool to have a prehensile tail? You could use it as a third arm or something like when in the car you could use your tail to change the radio.

And nails aren't a evolutionaryo left over. we still need our finger and toenails as it protects the tip of our fingers that is very sensitive. But we still use our finger nails more than we think. like when we need to scratch ourselves

So people who have an ruptured appendix can't process vegetables properly? Or am I not understanding that properly.

And whats not inteligent about creating beings designed to evolve and adapt?