7 Body Parts You Don't Really Need

You'd be surprised what natural selection has been snatching away from us.

Dapho Dill
Created by Dapho Dill
On Jun 13, 2016
1

Male Nipples

Well... males mainly have nipples because they could have been females.

Males and females develop in exactly the same way for the first 60 days in the womb. For those with a Y chromosome testosterone will then kick in, which will cause male sex organs to develop instead of female ones.

By this point, though, you’re already going to get nipples. But because having nipples doesn’t actually do any harm, they have never been weeded out by natural selection.

Still, males don't need those nipples and they don't particularly serve any life-sustanining purpose... but maybe a few freaky things~?

>_> I see you.

2

Tailbone

Humans no longer need tails. We’re perfectly good at balancing without them. However, most mammals will have a tail at some point in their lives, even if they lose it by the time they leave the womb.

Between weeks five to eight after conception, human embryos seem to develop what looks like a tail forming in the womb but, by the time they are born, it has been absorbed into the vertebrae.

Don't get me wrong, though - the tail bone can also serve a small purpose in other minor (and arguably useless) formats. And yes, if you break it, it's going to hurt - of course.

But if you're not afraid of a few google pictures... google "humans with tails" and perhaps the pieces will come together.

3

Wisdom Teeth

Human jaws have gotten smaller over time, and as a result, we can’t fit our wisdom teeth in. I happily give the middle finger to natural selection for this foolishness, because now I have to go to the dentist JUST to get the damn teeth removed.

In fact, many of us can’t fit most of our teeth in. About 1 in 5 people are affected by ‘dental crowding’, so we definitely don’t need to start growing extra teeth in adulthood.

Most scientists agree that our jaws have got smaller because we eat differently – we no longer have to chew through raw vegetables and tough meat. This is following the chain of evolutionary belief.

Some scientists also think our improved dental hygiene has something to do with it. Historically, we didn’t take care of our teeth as much as we do now which meant that we were likely to lose them, and therefore make room for wisdom teeth to grow in.

What almost all scientist agree on is that we don't really need wisdom teeth.

4

Goosebumps

To be fair, many people (I dare say almost all) will classify goosebumps as a reaction of the skin, not a body part. For all intents and purposes, they're very, very tiny muscles call arrector pili.

Our ancestors possessed a lot more body hair and goosebumps gave them the appearance of being bigger, which it is thought could have helped us scare predators away (think of an angry or scared cat) .

This is why we get goosebumps when we’re scared. We also get them when we’re cold because puffing up our fur would once have helped us to keep warm.

Now, they're not particularly useful by any means.

5

Darwin's Point

Darwin’s point, also known as Darwin’s tubercle, is a small fold of skin that forms on 10 percent of people’s upper ear.

Its origins are unclear, however, research shows it may have been a joint that allowed the ear to swivel or flop down. The reason they tie this back to Darwin is because he very much believed we evolved from primates - which has an unignorable amount of evidence defending as such.

6

Appendix

While the appendix is found between the small intestine and large intestine it plays no role in digestion. Experts suggest it may have served a purpose when the human diet was mostly made up of plants. Now it only becomes inflamed and infected before finally rupturing when someone develops appendicitis.

Yeah... we can do without this one.

7

A third eyelid

At the very corner of your eye, next to your nose, there’s a little flap of skin that doesn’t really need to be there. This is called the plica semilunaris, or the nictitating membrane.

Birds and reptiles have these extra translucent eyelids which they can put across their eyes for protection or moisture while still being able to see.

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