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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]
Anatomy photo:37:12-0102 at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center—"Abdominal Cavity: The Cecum and the Vermiform Appendix" "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).
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 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.
The pineal gland was originally believed to be a "vestigial remnant" of a larger organ. Epiphysan – an extract derived from the pineal glands of cattle – was historically used by veterinarians for rut suppression in mares and cows. In the 1930s it was tested on humans, and resulted in a temporary reduction in their masturbation impulse. [81]
Wolffian tubules are labeled to the right. The mesonephros persists and forms the anterior portion of the permanent kidneys in fish and amphibians, but in reptiles, birds, and mammals, it atrophies and for the most part disappears rapidly as the permanent kidney ( metanephros ) begins to develop [ 2 ] during the sixth or seventh week.
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