This Scientist's Tweets About "Evolutionary Leftovers" Will Make You See Your Body Parts In A Whole New Way

Do you have these traits that connect us to our primate ancestors?

Dorsa Amir is an evolutionary anthropologist and postdoctoral research fellow at Boston College. She's also pretty good at Twitter.

Amir often shares with her more than 11,000 followers interesting tidbits about her work and studies.

This week, she decided to tweet about "evolutionary leftovers" or, as scientists call them, vestigial structures.

Did you know the human body is full of evolutionary leftovers that no longer serve a purpose? These are called vestigial structures and they’re fascinating. (1/8)

She explained the first one in an appearance on AM to DM on Thursday. It's called the "palmaris longus."

.@DorsaAmir explains the science behind an "evolutionary leftover" called Palmaris Longus and how to tell if you have one

As she wrote on Twitter:

Put your hand flat on a surface and touch your pinky to your thumb. Do you see a raised band in your wrist?

That there’s a vestigial muscle called the palmaris longus.

It used to help you move around the trees. About 14% of us don't even have this muscle anymore.

Ever wondered what that bump on your ear is? It used to help us move our ears around like monkeys do.

Evolution can also explain why babies grasp hands...

And why you have that little pink bump in your eye.

It even explains goosebumps!

For more on all the cool work Amir does, watch the full clip from AM to DM:

video-player.buzzfeed.com
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