Wednesday, March 30, 2005
The Top Ten Useless Limbs (and Other Vestigial Organs)
In Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859) and his next publication, The Descent of Man (1871), he referred to several vestiges in human anatomy that were left over from the course of evolution. These vestigial organs, Darwin argued, are evidence of evolution and represent a function that was once necessary for survival, but over time that function became either diminished or nonexistent.
The presence of an organ in one organism that resembles one found in another has lead biologists to conclude that these two might have shared a common ancestor. Vestigial organs have demonstrated remarkably how species are related to one another, and has given solid ground for the idea of common descent to stand on. From common descent, it is predicted that organisms should retain these vestigial organs as structural remnants of lost functions. It is only because of macro-evolutionary theory, or evolution that takes place over very long periods of time, that these vestiges appear. - via LiveScience.com
While you're there don't forget to vote for the World's Ugliest Animals.
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