Top 10 Useless Body Parts

Saw this on MSN Encarta and thought it was worth reading:

When you're sick you may feel that certain body parts are more trouble than they're worth. And in some cases, you'd be right. While the human body has evolved and adapted significantly since the caveman days, a few biological traces of our prehistoric ancestors still remain with us in the form of freeloading body parts we lug around with us, but have no use for. Take a gander at the top offenders!


10. Plica semilunaris
You may not know it, but you have a third eyelid. Pull open the two more noticeable eyelids and take a look -- it's located right in the corner by the tear duct. This small third eyelid is left over from what's known as a "nictitating membrane," which is still present in full form in some animals including chickens, lizards and sharks.


9. Body hair
No doubt we were once hairier. Up until about 3 million years ago, we were covered with body hair. But by the time Homo erectus arrived, the ability to sweat meant we could shed our woolly ways.


8. Sinuses
Doctors don't really know much about sinuses -- only that we have a lot of them. Possibilities for their function range from insulating our eyes to changing the pitch and tone of our voice.


7. Adenoids
Adenoids trap bacteria, but they're also prone to swelling and infection. Just ask any 7-year-old. Luckily, our adenoids shrink with age and are often removed, along with ...


6. Tonsils
Also prone to swelling and infection. If you still have them when you reach your 30s, it's almost an accomplishment.


5. Coccyx
More useful as a game-winning Scrabble word than as part of the anatomy, the coccyx or tailbone, is made up of several fused vertebrae left over from the olden days when we had tails.


4. Arrector pili
When we were hairier (see No. 9), the arrector pili made the hairs stand on end when we needed to appear bigger and scarier. Now, it just gives us goose bumps.


3. Wisdom teeth
Back in the day, when we ate mammoth meat off the bone and didn't floss afterward, our teeth tended to fall out. Therefore, when those reserve molars, aka "wisdom teeth," came in, they were welcomed. Nowadays, fluoride and dental plans have made them just a huge pain.


2. Appendix
Darwin claimed the appendix was useful for digestion during our early plant-eating years; it's dwindled down to little since we started eating more digestible foods.

1. Male nipples
Because, why?

http://spotlight.encarta.msn.com/Featur ... ?GT1=27004

Prime example of how bored us Americans can get because of lack of exercise.

I can name one or two body parts that are completely useless for 99% of you...

Originally posted by dcs221

I can name one or two body parts that are completely useless for 99% of you...

wow, ur cool.

I happen to like having nipples

Thanks asaaa. I see you can use your mind to understand my coolness, so if I take the brain off your list, that only leaves one of your body parts that's completely useless.

wow, asaaa just got burned pretty bad.
nice one dcs.

Pinky toe?

dcs beat me to the joke.

I think number 5 is quite the interesting word.

Yeah I heard the pinky toe was likely to evolve away because it's not really necessary apparently. Surprised it isn't on the list.

"Evolve", God this reminds me of pokemon haha soo much.

^god don't even mention "those" i hate them so much, one of my friends got in a massive fight and broke his nose because of them when we were in primary school or "kindergarten"
we laugh about it now 'cus we found out that the kid who broke my friends nose had to have an operation to have some flesh from his butt cheek put onto his face 'cus it was so shrunken, he used to bully my friend and me a little, now every time he gives us agro we call him butt face[pshades]

8. Sinuses
Doctors don't really know much about sinuses -- only that we have a lot of them. Possibilities for their function range from insulating our eyes to changing the pitch and tone of our voice.

Sounds pretty useful to me.

I like my nipples too

Me three. But I don't say they're useless. I mean, we all start out in a gender neutral form, so they could technically do something if the right sets of hormones came along.

First....don't touch my nipples!
Second...what are nails useful for?
To be eaten and then spit?
Or maybe just for beauty...imagine your hands without them...2 skin gloves!

Originally posted by cjd

Me three. But I don't say they're useless. I mean, we all start out in a gender neutral form, so they could technically do something if the right sets of hormones came along.

Yeah ... You'd love to have working nipples, but let's not go there.

Male nipples are indeed useful in the R rated environment.

i know what you mean.... not that its happened to me before, but i know what youre talkin about

Originally posted by barone

First....don't touch my nipples!
Second...what are nails useful for?
To be eaten and then spit?
Or maybe just for beauty...imagine your hands without them...2 skin gloves!

Whether you notice or not, nails actually do a good job at protecting your finger tips.

ok, why do we have belly buttons.

i mean i know its the leftover from the umbilical cord but why didnt it just heal over instead of leaving a big gaping whole in the middle of your body or worse, an outy belly button [shocked]

Originally posted by Canadmos

Whether you notice or not, nails actually do a good job at protecting your finger tips.

I think they are there for a more practical reason which we did not develop but I consider them a little bit delicate to be a real protection.

I think they help us pick up things, since the definition finder nail means a thin plate, consisting of modified epidermis, growing on the upper side of the end of a finger or toe. And I agree to Canadmos's comment.

Originally posted by BillBillJr92

I think they help us pick up things, since the definition finder nail means a thin plate, consisting of modified epidermis, growing on the upper side of the end of a finger or toe. And I agree to Canadmos's comment.

whos wikipedias bitch..............YOU ARE

Originally posted by BillBillJr92

I think they help us pick up things, since the definition finder nail means a thin plate, consisting of modified epidermis, growing on the upper side of the end of a finger or toe. And I agree to Canadmos's comment.

Very good but I have a question:do you pick up things with your nails?
Or...in which way do they help fingers in doing that?
I agree they are a barrier...but they're not made of a hard material like teeth or something else.
So I simply do not see such a big utility and invincible protection!