signs of evolution on our own bodies

 

To see some of the ways in which humans have evolved over time, you can simply take a look at some of the features of your own body!

When you watch a scary film, do you get goose bumps? Do all of your hairs stand on end? Just like when a cat feels threatened, this reaction seemingly allowed our prehistoric ancestors to appear bigger than they were in the face of danger.

These teeth, which grow through later in life, compensated for the loss of other teeth among our ancient ancestors. Low standards of hygiene meant that the first humans lost their teeth very early on, but their wisdom teeth allowed them to avoid being restricted to a diet of prehistoric soup!

Over time, humans have become much less hairy. Hair is useful for regulating body temperature, but it’s something early humans gradually shed as they became more sedentary. They no longer had to make such efforts to travel, and their body temperature could better regulate itself.

Try to touch your pinkie with your thumb on the same hand… A tendon should pop up in your forearm. This is the same cord that allows other animals to move around on four legs, and which we inherited from monkeys. If you can’t see it, you belong to the minority of people for whom it’s no longer visible.

Try to touch your pinkie with your thumb on the same hand… A tendon should pop up in your forearm. This is the same cord that allows other animals to move around on four legs, and which we inherited from monkeys. If you can’t see it, you belong to the minority of people for whom it’s no longer visible.

Why do our fingers change in appearance after they’ve been in water for a long time? Probably because this makes us more able to grab submerged objects, something that would have helped the first hominids to catch fish for feeding themselves.

This little pocket linked to the intestine is no longer of any use to us. We don’t even miss it if it’s removed, but when it’s inflamed you have a case of appendicitis. It’s still an important organ for herbivores, however, who need it to digest their food.

Toes enabled the first hominids to grab objects and move around easily through the trees. Today, it’s mainly our big toe that’s useful, helping to keep us upright. Babies, however, still know how to use all 10 of their toes to pick up their toys!

The coccyx is a bone found at the base of your spine. It’s what remains of our ancestors’ tails. Some people are born with an abnormally long coccyx, which is now just a useless growth. Originally, though, tails helped the first hominids to maintain their balance when moving around.

One thing that most mammals have in common is milk teeth. As mammals are suckled before moving on to eat more solid food, they need different sets of teeth that are adapted to their changing diet.

Some of us are still able to move our ears independently. This is a characteristic shared by other mammals (dogs, cats, etc.) even if humans have, over time, lost the ability to direct them as effectively. However, our ears will still always try to move in the direction of noise.

The phrenic nerve links our brain to our diaphragm, enabling it to accompany our breathing. It’s when this nerve is irritated that we get hiccups! It could be a lot shorter than it is, but the winding path it takes through our bodies is something that has been passed down to us from our fishy ancestors!

Until six weeks, every fetus is female. That means it has attributes that are common to all humans, starting with nipples. Sexual differentiation happens afterwards: female nipples develop, whereas male nipples just remain visible.

courtesy msn.com