This list was found on the net and was originally drafted by Jocelyn Selim.
VOMERONASAL ORGAN
A tiny pit on each side of the septum is lined with nonfunctioning chemoreceptors. They may be all that remains of a once extensive pheromone-detecting ability.
EXTRINSIC EAR MUSCLES
This trio of muscles most likely made it possible for prehominids to move their ears independently of their heads, as rabbits and dogs do. We still have them, which is why most people can learn to wiggle their ears.
WISDOM TEETH
Early humans had to chew a lot of plants to get enough calories to survive, making another row of molars helpful. Only about 5 percent of the population has a healthy set of these third molars.
NECK RIB
A set of cervical ribs—possibly leftovers from the age of reptiles—still appear in less than 1 percent of the population. They often cause nerve and artery problems.
THIRD EYELID
A common ancestor of birds and mammals may have had a membrane for protecting the eye and sweeping out debris. Humans retain only a tiny fold in the inner corner of the eye.
DARWIN’S POINT
A small folded point of skin toward the top of each ear is occasionally found in modern humans. It may be a remnant of a larger shape that helped focus distant sounds.
SUBCLAVIUS MUSCLE
This small muscle stretching under the shoulder from the first rib to the collarbone would be useful if humans still walked on all fours. Some people have one, some have none, and a few have two.
PALMARIS MUSCLE
This long, narrow muscle runs from the elbow to the wrist and is missing in 11 percent of modern humans. It may once have been important for hanging and climbing. Surgeons harvest it for reconstructive surgery.
MALE NIPPLES
Lactiferous ducts form well before testosterone causes sex differentiation in a fetus. Men have mammary tissue that can be stimulated to produce milk.
ERECTOR PILI
Bundles of smooth muscle fibers allow animals to puff up their fur for insulation or to intimidate others. Humans retain this ability (goose bumps are the indicator) but have obviously lost most of the fur.
APPENDIX
This narrow, muscular tube attached to the large intestine served as a special area to digest cellulose when the human diet consisted more of plant matter than animal protein. It also produces some white blood cells. Annually, more than 300,000 Americans have an appendectomy.
BODY HAIR
Brows help keep sweat from the eyes, and male facial hair may play a role in sexual selection, but apparently most of the hair left on the human body serves no function.
PLANTARIS MUSCLE
Often mistaken for a nerve by freshman medical students, the muscle was useful to other primates for grasping with their feet. It has disappeared altogether in 9 percent of the population.
THIRTEENTH RIB
Our closest cousins, chimpanzees and gorillas, have an extra set of ribs. Most of us have 12, but 8 percent of adults have the extras.
MALE UTERUS
A remnant of an undeveloped female reproductive organ hangs off the male prostate gland.
FIFTH TOE
Lesser apes use all their toes for grasping or clinging to branches. Humans need mainly the big toe for balance while walking upright.
FEMALE VAS DEFERENS
What might become sperm ducts in males become the epoophoron in females, a cluster of useless dead-end tubules near the ovaries.
PYRAMIDALIS MUSCLE
More than 20 percent of us lack this tiny, triangular pouchlike muscle that attaches to the pubic bone. It may be a relic from pouched marsupials.
COCCYX
These fused vertebrae are all that’s left of the tail that most mammals still use for balance and communication. Our hominid ancestors lost the need for a tail before they began walking upright.
PARANASAL SINUSES
The nasal sinuses of our early ancestors may have been lined with odor receptors that gave a heightened sense of smell, which aided survival. No one knows why we retain these perhaps troublesome mucus-lined cavities, except to make the head lighter and to warm and moisten the air we breathe.
In 1859, Charles Darwin (1809–1882) published The Origin of Species, which articulated the first full-fledged theory of evolution by natural selection. Darwin viewed the history of life like a tree, each fork in the tree’s limbs representing a shared ancestry. The tips of the limbs represented modern species and the branches represented the common ancestors shared amongst species. To explain these relationships, Darwin contended that all living things were related and descended from a few forms, or even from a single common ancestor, in a process he described as “descent with modification”.
Darwin’s view was controversial because humans did not receive special consideration in this evolutionary tree: they were merely one of its many branches. Though he did not make this explicit at first, his friend and supporter T. H. Huxley soon presented evidence that humans and apes shared a common ancestor. The popular press of the day misinterpreted this as an assertion that humans were descended from monkeys.
Darwin’s explanation of the mechanism of evolution relied on his theory of natural selection, a theory developed from the following observations:
1. If all the individuals of a species reproduced successfully, the population of that species would increase exponentially.
2. Except for seasonal fluctuations, populations tend to remain stable in size.
3. Environmental resources are limited.
4. The traits found in a population vary extensively. No two individuals in a given species are exactly alike.
5. Many of the variations found in a population can be passed on to offspring.
From these observations, Darwin deduced that the production of more offspring than the environment can support leads to a struggle for existence, with only a small percentage of individuals surviving in each generation. He noted that the chance for surviving this struggle is not random, but depends on how well-adapted each individual is to its environment. Well-adapted, or “fit” individuals will more likely leave a greater number of offspring than their less well-adapted competitors. Darwin concluded that the unequal ability of individuals to survive and reproduce leads to gradual changes in the population as the traits which help the organism survive and reproduce accumulate over generations and those that inhibit its survival and reproduction are lost. Darwin used the term natural selection to describe this process.
The variations in a population arise by chance mutations in DNA, but natural selection is not a process of chance: the environment determines the probability of reproductive success. The end products of natural selection are organisms that are adapted to their present environments.
Natural selection does not involve progress towards an ultimate goal. Evolution does not necessarily strive for more advanced, more intelligent, or more sophisticated life forms. For example, fleas (wingless parasites) are descended from a winged, ancestral scorpionfly, and snakes are lizards that no longer require limbs. Organisms are merely the outcome of variations that succeed or fail, dependent upon the environmental conditions at the time. In reality, when the environment changes, most species fail to adapt and become extinct.
via Wikipedia
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very good research man….
I love lists like this!! Your comments added in are a hoot! I too would have loved to have a third eyelid when I was younger…well, actually having one now would be pretty cool too! lol!! Thanks for this post…I enjoyed it!
Thanks for visiting and commenting!
Good find, I liked you comments. Also, Humans share a recent ancestor with chimps, but what did it evolve from? Somewhere in our evolutionary history there are reptiles, fish, bacteria and (i guess) marsupials. My favorite is the third eyelid, dang that would be awesome, but what if it got infected?
By my understanding, they mean that the big toe is the only really important one for balance, with the 5th or “pinky” being completely unnecessary at this point.
Great list!
A lot of what we think is “useless” is driven by cultural bias. The pedophiles in the fashion industry don’t like body hair, so it must be useless, right? WRONG. It’s a sensory organ! Ever feel the hair on the back of your neck stand up? Ever been a hairy chested man outside on a buggy night? No bites! I can feel them land on me better than any androgynous boy-man could.
If by some freak accident you lose your pinky toe, please remember to come back and tell us whether or not it has debilitated you.
Actually, the point on your ear isn’t visible, but if you run your finger alongside the inside of its main curve, you’ll feel the bump, if you have one. Only my right ear does.
I’m one of the lucky ones that never had wisdom teeth, a trait inherited down from my father, and his mother before him. God, did my brother HATE that little fact, as he inherited them from our mother
Good list. I’m with AttemptingReaon, apes may be our first cousins, marsupials may be second cousins, and lizards may be third cousins, evolutionarily speaking.
Max: How’s your coccyx?
Hairy chests became useless when we decided to wear clothing - a good shirt prevents bug bites much better than hair.
Or maybe we decided to wear clothing because our hairy chests were getting less hairy… Hard to tell…
I am hairy and grew up in the Caribbean, and let me tell you that my hairy chest and hairy legs didn’t stop the bugs from biting. Perhaps our previous commentator lives where there are barely any bugs. Anyway, his comment is based on personal likes and dislikes, not on scientific evidence and in contrast to this awesome list!
[...] I give you this: 20 useless body parts. I feel after Heroes 2×02, this is mildly [...]
Good list.
But the functionalities of most of these organs/body parts may not have been fully understood.
Like the appendix
Recent study claims that appendix does perform certain functions that are not just remnants of evolution.
Article: source AP
‘Human appendix for making, protecting good germs’
Washington, Oct. 6 (AP): Some scientists think they have figured out the real job of the troublesome and seemingly useless appendix: It produces and protects good germs for the gut.
That is the theory from surgeons and immunologists at Duke University Medical School, published online in a scientific journal this week.
For generations the appendix has been dismissed as superfluous.
Doctors could find no function for it. Surgeons removed them routinely. People live fine without them.
And when infected the appendix can turn deadly. It becomes inflamed quickly, and some people die if it is not removed expeditiously.
Two years ago, 321,000 Americans were hospitalised with appendicitis, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
The function of the appendix seems related to the massive amount of bacteria that populates the human digestive system, according to the study in the Journal of Theoretical Biology.
More bacteria inhabit the typical body than human cells. Most of the bacteria are good and help digest food.
But sometimes the flora of bacteria in the intestines die or are purged. Diseases such as cholera or amoebic dysentery would clear the gut of useful bacteria.
The appendix’s job is to reboot the digestive system in that case.
[...] read more | digg story none [...]
krisk posted about the appendix, good job.
body hair is useful and does serve a purpose. it protects the skin. i have an uncle who lost his body hair due to a disease, and his skin gets very dry, and clothing hurts because the skin has no protection. hair can also act as a lubricant, allowing things to glide over them, while they also secret oils.
pretty good stuff interesting
male nipples are for piercings
What a bunch of crap. Yeah, humans evolved from lizards. Who told you that, the witch doctor? This is obsolete garbage. Sure, there is very strong evidence that humans evolve, but humans didn’t ever come from any ape-like creatures, lizards, or any other non-human species. You people to to get your science out of the dark ages. IT’S THE 21st CENTURY!!! You people make me laugh.
I don’t think someone’s clothing hurting has anything to do with a lack of body hair, unless there is also another problem causing the sensitivity, in which case the hair isn’t actually the real issue. Body hair also has nothing to do with how dry skin can get, unless you don’t bathe regularly. Also, hair on the human body DOES generally make it easier to feel a bug crawling on you, & that’s something that most people would want to be aware of.
Woah…it’s interesting to see the mutant nature and continual effects of evolution. Seriously, men have uteruses? So…my friend who has three nipples will likely not pass on his genes, right?
“Good find, I liked you comments. Also, Humans share a recent ancestor with chimps, but what did it evolve from? Somewhere in our evolutionary history there are reptiles, fish, bacteria and (i guess) marsupials. My favorite is the third eyelid, dang that would be awesome, but what if it got infected?”
yes, chimps and humans have a common ancestor, but not all animals evolved from all animals. of course, has it has been pointed out, humans didnt evolve from reptiles, but reptiles and humans share a common ancestor. all life comes from a single individual but that doesnt mean single species diferentiated only once from the tree, but that a whole branch of species did. monocelular life existed first, like bacteria, and only then came multicelulars like mammals, fungi, plants, etc.
marsupials are one branch from mammals that got isolated in australia. there is also a big group for africa and a big group for south america. even though mammals, at the time of the separation of the continents, where very diferent from today, they evolved very similarly which is a good example of convergent evolution.
You might want to edit the appendix part. Its not up to date.
“Researchers say they have discovered the purpose of the appendix: It houses and protects some of the body’s good bacteria.”
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/10/08/appendix-use.html?ref=rss
A “Darwin’s Point” or tubercle is definitely visible. Several members of my family have them, to varying degrees (I have a smallish visible one on my left ear, but my brother had very prominent ones on both). Check the picture on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin’s_tubercle
IT’S THE 21st CENTURY!!! Try reading sometime other then the Bible, you may learn something: Like the earth is more then 7000 years old, that no one can be swallowed my a whale (or a large fish) and live to exit it 3 days later; that the earth is not flat; that God can not stop the sun to help his chosen people win a war (it’s the earth that moves not the sun); and that you might try using your stupidity as an argument against evolution. Evolution does not always result in improvements as you clearly prove.
Please forgive the misspelling: “swallowed my” should be “swallowed by”.
You are correct about feeling bugs crawling on you when you have body hair. I’ve found washing my body effective against bugs on my skin. MAYBE hairlessness is a punishment against evil people so that they won’t know about bugs on their skin - check your Bible and let us know.
okay so..im 15 so alot of werdz you said..i didn’t get them n suff..
so it would help if you explained them alittle more specifically….and by the way..did we really evolve frum munkees?….cuz it scares me. 
any hoo. alot of the things you listed were practically greek to me. and btw i have no pinky toes and i walk regular. 
munkee munkee!
“okay so..im 15 so alot of werdz you said..i didn’t get them n suff..
so it would help if you explained them alittle more specifically….and by the way..did we really evolve frum munkees?….cuz it scares me. 
any hoo. alot of the things you listed were practically greek to me. and btw i have no pinky toes and i walk regular. :smile:”
chimps, not munkees, have the same “grand-grand-…-father” and “grand-grand-…-mother” than us. why are you scared about this? it’s not like it’s going to kill you.
The coccyx is believed to be the remnant of a vestigial tail, yes, but it isn’t useless- it serves as an anchor for nine (very important) muscles.
Fantastic post. Came across this through Stumble. It’s quite interesting to read how many ‘useless’ parts we actually have.
[...] list comes from http://www.bloggingwv.com and originally drafted by Jocelyn Selim, so full credit goes to [...]
this is a bunch of shit its not true dont listen to them your scientific matters are so dumpy
The BIBLE?!!! That book is surprisingly more full of holes than the crap on this page, and that’s really saying something.
You have just completely sabotaged your argument. Well done.
Yes, let us be thankful for the magical anti-bug force-field that bathing provides us all. Without it, a bug might end up landing on or crawling on someone. It could really get out of control.
That is great, funny and interesting post. 95% of the things i never heard of: like neck rib, male nipples ( well i seen male breast but nothing produce milk) and male uterus.lol
Stephen Jay Gould spent a creative lifetime (1940-2002) dealing with so-called useless organs, multi-functional organs, alteration of organs (jaws of fishes become bones of mammalian ear), conservatism of embryonic pathways.
One of his books, Hen’s Teeth and Horse’s Toes, contains an essay which discusses the re-appearance of ancient ancestral traits which are not usually expressed in the modern anatomical forms. Early birds had teeth. Early horses were multi-toed.
Consider that men and women are built on an identical embryonic template until hormones are released which lead to sexual differentiation. So, male nipples are not used, because they do not form part of a normally functional male, but they are not useless in the sense that these tissues under the right hormonal stimulus could have become fully functional breast tissue.
Your list has a sort of gee-whiz effect — ain’t that odd. But, some of the traits you list were adaptations and some were features of embryonic development which had to come along for the ride. For example, even the blind mole rat of the middle eastern deserts forms an eye and a lens (though misshapen) though the eyes are completely covered by skin and hair from birth.
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