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Ileum, caecum and colon of rabbit, showing Appendix vermiformis on fully functional caecum The human vermiform appendix on the vestigial caecum. The appendix was once believed to be a vestige of a redundant organ that in ancestral species had digestive functions, much as it still does in extant species in which intestinal flora hydrolyze cellulose and similar indigestible plant materials. [10]
In humans, the vermiform appendix is sometimes called a vestigial structure as it has lost much of its ancestral digestive function.. Vestigiality is the retention, during the process of evolution, of genetically determined structures or attributes that have lost some or all of the ancestral function in a given species. [1]
Vestigial structures are anatomical structures of organisms in a species which are considered to have lost much or all of their original function through evolution. [8] These body parts can be classed as additional to the required functioning of the body. In human anatomy, the vermiform appendix is sometimes classed as a vestigial remnant.
The longest appendix ever removed was 26 cm (10 in) long. [3] The appendix is usually located in the lower right quadrant of the abdomen, near the right hip bone. The base of the appendix is located 2 cm (0.79 in) beneath the ileocecal valve that separates the large intestine from the small
If a structure was once called vestigial, but is now known to be functional, then calling it "Functioning Vestigial Structures" violates the definition of vestigial, because by definition, it is not vestigial. It was previously called vestigial, but that was a mistake. It is not correct to call the vermiform appendix vestigial.
The young Robert Ernst Eduard Wiedersheim, probably in early 1874 by Alfredo Noack in Genoa. [1]Robert Ernst Eduard Wiedersheim (21 April 1848 – 12 July 1923) was a German anatomist who is famous for publishing a list of 86 "vestigial organs" in his book The Structure of Man: An Index to His Past History.
It is erroneous to cite the appendix as a vestigial organ when we now know that it serves a biological function (i.e. a reservoir for beneficial bacteria). The article first cites it as a vestigial organ, then equivocates, suggesting the appendix might have a purpose after all. That’s a poor example of a vestigial organ.
Inflamed appendix removal by open surgery Laparoscopic appendectomy. Laparoscopic view of a phlegmonous cecal appendix with fibrinous plaques, located in the right iliac fossa. The surgical procedure for the removal of the appendix is called an appendectomy. Appendectomy can be performed through open or laparoscopic surgery.