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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]
Vestigial structures are often called vestigial organs, although many of them are not actually organs. Such vestigial structures typically are degenerate, atrophied, or rudimentary, [3] and tend to be much more variable than homologous non-vestigial parts. Although structures commonly regarded "vestigial" may have lost some or all of the ...
"The vestigiality of the human vermiform appendix: A Modern Reappraisal"—evolutionary biology argument that the appendix is vestigial; Smith HF, Fisher RE, Everett ML, Thomas AD, Bollinger RR, Parker W (October 2009). "Comparative anatomy and phylogenetic distribution of the mammalian cecal appendix". Journal of Evolutionary Biology.
Humans have many vestigial body parts that may have been useful for our ancestors but are obsolete for us. Useless body parts explained: Show comments. Advertisement. Advertisement.
The appendix, long misunderstood as a vestigial organ, is now recognized as a key MALT structure, playing an essential role in B-lymphocyte-mediated immune responses, hosting extrathymically derived T-lymphocytes, regulating pathogens through its lymphatic vessels, and potentially producing early defenses against diseases. [1]
The vomeronasal organ plays an important role with its sensitivity toward chemicals that are related to mating or sensing prey. For example, snakes use the organ to detect the presence of prey or predator by gathering chemical cues in the environment through the flicking behavior of the forked tongue.
According to Kukushkin, the memories stored in non-brain cells in other parts of the body are memories strictly related to the roles that those specific cells play in human health. Thus, he detailed:
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. Prosthesis is an artificial extension that replaces a body part, [ 9 ] and cybernetics is the study of computer technology in relation to organisms, which can include ...