If you’ve ever thrown a gutter ball, tripped over your own feet, or dropped your phone, you might have looked at the body part responsible and thought, ‘what are you even good for?’
I probably don’t need to point out that arms, legs, and hands all have a lot of purpose, but there are actually other parts of the body that have been rendered pretty much useless over the course of time – and you can find out all about them right here…
Appendix
Other than getting appendicitis and having to have the organ removed, have you ever head anyone talking about just how much their appendix does for them?
I’m going to bet the answer is ‘no’, and that’s because millions of people have had the organ removed in their lives and gone on to do just fine.
Forming part of your gastrointestinal tract, the appendix has long been a bit of a mystery to scientists and doctors, who have been unable to definitively determine its function.
There are a few theories floating around, including the belief that the organ is a shriveled section of a larger part of the intestine which has become less important throughout evolution, and that it might store good gut bacteria that can help us recover after a gastrointestinal disease.
On the whole, however, the fact that people are able to have the appendix removed without issue proves that it’s not vital to life.
Coccyx
Otherwise known as the tailbone, which should give you a better clue as to why it’s now rendered useless.
The vertebrae that form the coccyx are the last remaining evidence that our ancestors once had tails, but in modern-day bodies, they don’t have much of a function at all. In some cases, the coccyx can disappear by fusing with another lower back bone known as the sacrum, but typically, it just hangs out as a reminder of where we’ve come from.
Wisdom Teeth
As someone who struggled a lot with wisdom teeth pain before having them removed, this is one I can vouch for personally.
The teeth don’t give us more wisdom, as advertised, but instead are simply a third set of molars that modern-day mouths often don’t have room for. In the past, however, it’s been suggested that our ancestors needed the teeth to help get through tougher foods, or to act as a backup in a time when dentists weren’t on hand to help.
They sometimes grow in without incident, or even not at all, but often people who have wisdom teeth end up getting them surgically removed to prevent them from impacting other teeth.
External Ear-Orienting System
This sounds like some fancy new feature you might find offered in the latest pair of headphones, but instead it refers to the muscles in ears which allow them to better catch a noteworthy noise.
The best example of this happens when cats and dogs hear something new and you see their ears turn to catch it. We can’t turn our ears in the same way, but we still have the muscles intended to do so, and some people can utilise them with a fun party trick: wiggling their ears.
Goosebump Muscles
Goosebumps – or goosepimples, if you prefer – are a common occurence when we’re cold or frightened.
These days, they’re not particularly noticeable and don’t really help us out at all, but they were previously intended to help us look bigger or offer a bit of extra warmth when we had more hair on our bodies.
Third Eyelid
You heard me!
It sounds a bit gross, but we do actually have a remnant of the third eyelid, also known as the nictitating membrane, which is a common feature among animals.
The membrane helps to clear dust from the eye and spread tears, and in humans now, it’s visible only as a fleshy, pink spot in the corner of our eyes.
Palmaris Longus Muscle
You might not have heard about this muscle, but chances are you’ll know what it looks like! If you still have a palmaris longus, you might be able to spot it by flexing your hand a certain way.
Not everyone has one, as other muscles have since taken over its duty of helping to flex the wrist, but if you do it will appear as a line of muscle sticking up in the centre of your forearm, travelling from the bottom of the palm a few centimeters down the wrist.
