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Vestigial response. A vestigial response or vestigial reflex in a species is a response that has lost its original function. In humans, vestigial responses include ear perking, goose bumps and the hypnic jerk.
Goose bumps are an example of a vestigial human reaction to stress. The formation of goose bumps in humans under stress is a vestigial reflex; a possible function in the distant evolutionary ancestors of humanity was to raise the body's hair, making the ancestor appear larger and scaring off predators.
The formation of goose bumps in humans under stress is considered by some to be a vestigial reflex, [4] though visible piloerection is associated with changes in skin temperature in humans. [5] The reflex of producing goose bumps is known as piloerection or the pilomotor reflex, or, more traditionally, [6] horripilation.
Vestigiality. 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]
The palmar grasp reflex (or grasp reflex) is a primitive and involuntary reflex found in infants of humans and most primates. When an object, such as an adult finger, is placed in an infant's palm, the infant's fingers reflexively grasp the object. [1] Placement of the object triggers a spinal reflex, resulting from stimulation of tendons in ...
The postauricular reflex is a vestigial myogenic [4] muscle response in humans that acts to pull the ear upward and backward. [5] Research suggests neural circuits for auricle orienting have survived in a vestigial state for over 25 million years. It is often assumed the reflex is a vestigial Preyer reflex (also known as the pinna reflex). [6] [7]
Raising the hair is also used to trap an extra layer of air, keeping an animal warm. This reflex formation of goosebumps when cold therefore has a useful function in humans with thick body hair, but the reflex to form them under stress is vestigial. No source is cited to provide evidence that even “particularly hairy humans” are hairy ...
Saccular acoustic sensitivity. Saccular acoustic sensitivity is a measurement of the ear 's affectability to sound. The saccule 's normal function is to keep the body balanced, but it is believed to have some hearing function for special frequencies and tones. Saccular acoustic sensitivity is considered to be simply an extension of the sense of ...