For onlookers, some oddities in a person’s appearance are another reason to groan and gossip; for an educated and tactful person, it is an opportunity to think once again about the path of human evolution.
Rudiments and atavisms are not deformities, much less a reason for ridicule, but possible “mistakes” of nature. And for scientists these are important signs, evidence of evolution.
What are atavisms
The presence in an individual of characteristics that were inherent in its distant ancestors is called atavism. What could it be? For example, thick hairline on the body, including the face. Or a tail growing above the tailbone. Multi-nipple is also included here. Once upon a time, back in the century before last, atavisms and rudiments were a clear confirmation of Darwin's theory. Then scientists were so carried away by the search for “useless” organs in the human body that they counted almost two hundred of them. Fortunately, over time, most of the organs from this “Darwinian” list were, so to speak, rehabilitated. Scientists have proven that their functionality is quite high.
It turned out that:
- some organs produced the necessary hormones;
- others turned out to be necessary at one time or another in the development of the organism;
- still others began to act under certain external conditions;
- and the fourth became “substitutes” for organs that failed.
That is, the same tailbone is not a direct reminder of the tail, but an organ that serves to attach certain ligaments and muscles. Let's take other examples: the appendix is not at all a useless tail-like appendage, but organ, in which the necessary microorganisms multiply.
By the way, if we talk specifically about atavisms, then this term is not truly scientific. And trying to determine the signs of atavism means acting in an anti-scientific way. Judge for yourself: increased body hair is supposedly a “hello from the past”, a reminder of who it came from there was a man. But other external deformities, for example, enlargement of fingers on the limbs, are a clear pathology, and in no way a parallel with a similar stage of development human body. That is, if these deformities do not have a direct resemblance to their ancestors, then this is a pathology. And if they do, it’s an atavism. But in both cases, the cause of such anomalies is a genetic failure.
By the way, if you are an adherent of the evolutionist theory, you must definitely meet people with fins and gills, and other characteristics that our animal ancestors possessed.
What are rudiments
But rudiments are considered to be undeveloped organs of the human or animal body. Let us give eloquent examples:
- Ear muscles. Some mammals really need them: it helps them direct their ears to a certain sound stimulus. A person no longer needs such an “option”.
- Semilunar fold in the inner corner of the eye. This is a remnant of the third eyelid, a fairly well developed nictitating membrane in birds and reptiles. It lubricates the eye with the necessary secretion, but in humans, the upper and lower eyelids cope with this mission. So the fold became small, turning out to be unnecessary.
Darwinists blindly denied new role"unnecessary" organs, but over time it was proven that in human body not so simple. You can’t just say that the same appendix is a reminder of our ancestors, no, today it is an organ immune system person.
Let's try to dispel some popular myths about rudiments and atavisms.
5 myths about atavisms and rudiments
Myth 1. Nipples in men are vestiges. But there’s nothing like that: they didn’t function in any way among our male ancestors either. The explanation for their presence is simple - in early period embryonic development people are unisex, sexual differences appear later, facilitated by special hormones.
Myth 2. A wisdom tooth is a genetic disorder. But this is atavism; strong molars helped our ancestors grind plant foods. We could chew them now, but in most cases they grow incorrectly, which causes a lot of inconvenience and leads a person to a dental surgeon.
Myth 3. The connection of the esophagus to the trachea in humans is meaningless. This is not true: mucus in the respiratory tract can be removed through the esophagus, but we can say that this structure is responsible for “saving space” and allows you to breathe through the mouth, which is very important for a severe runny nose.
Myth 4. Tonsils and adenoids are rudiments. This is not true at all! These organs are necessary for the growing body: they help launch an important mechanism for the production of protective antibodies. Once the mechanism has started working, the tonsils begin to shrink, and their function is taken over by other organs.
Myth 5. All “unnecessary” organs can be removed without disastrous consequences. This is certainly not the case. The main proof is that most organs either have several functions (and if one is “outdated”, then others are very relevant), or they turn out to be necessary in certain external situations.
Why do atavisms appear?
Dad doesn’t have a ponytail, and mom doesn’t, but the baby was born so unusual. Why? How could this happen? The notorious laws of genetics must be blamed here. Our entire appearance is programmed by the genes of our ancestors (genes for repeating traits). For every human trait, two genes are responsible: mother’s and father’s. They can be different or the same, strong or weak. If dad has a weak tail gene and mom has one, when they meet, they have every chance of giving birth to a child with a tail, because having united, the weak genes have become stronger.
But in fairness, we note: the chance of such a meeting is extremely small, and hidden genes of this kind are very rare.
Our body - a complex system, which consists of various organs, performing one or another function. Meanwhile, each of us also has a number of organs or their remains, as well as atavisms (signs that make us similar to the animal world), which in the life of the body have lost all or part of their functions. What organs are superfluous in the human body?
Such organs can cause a number of troubles or, on the contrary, make us unique. Let's consider what Mother Nature forgot to remove from our body in the process of evolution, that is, unnecessary organs.
1. Coccyx.
This is the lower part of the spine, which consists of three or five fused vertebrae. It is nothing more than our vestigial tail. Despite its vestigial nature, the coccyx is quite important body(like other rudiments, which, although they have lost most their functionality, still remain very useful for our body), but it is also a problem when hit.
2. Appendix.
Familiar to many. Once upon a time it participated in hematopoiesis, producing leukocytes - white blood cells. Now it does not have this function, but it is a source of infection. It may even come down to surgery.
3. Wisdom teeth.
Who hasn't encountered wisdom teeth? We're not getting wiser, but discomfort with their growth there may be. Wisdom teeth are considered rudiments: at one time they were necessary for our ancestors, but after the diet Homo sapiens has changed significantly (the consumption of solid and tough foods has decreased, people began to eat heat-processed food), and the volume of the brain has increased (as a result of which nature “had” to reduce the jaws of Homo sapiens) - wisdom teeth decisively “refuse” to fit into our dentition.
4. Body hair.
Without a doubt, once upon a time, about 3 million years ago, we were completely covered with them. But with the advent of erectus, they became of no use to us.
5. The effect of piloerection or “goose bumps”.
When reacting to cold, raised hairs help ensure that the layer of air heated by the body is retained at the surface of the skin. When reacting to danger, raised hair makes the animals look more massive and gives them a frightening appearance.
6. Tonsils or tonsils.
They catch bacteria, but they are also prone to swelling and are not resistant to infection. Children often experience this themselves. Fortunately, our tonsils decrease in size with age, and if they cause any problems, they are removed.
7. Ear muscles.
They are the muscles of the head surrounding auricle. The ear muscles (more precisely, what is left of them) are classic example vestigial organs. This is understandable, because people who can move their ears are quite rare - much less common than people who do not have a tailbone, appendix, etc. rudiments. The functions that the ear muscles performed in our ancestors are quite clear: of course, they helped move the ears in order to better hear an approaching predator, rival, relatives or prey.
8. Epicanthus.
This rudiment is characteristic only for Mongoloid race(or, for example, for the African Bushmen - the most ancient people on the planet, whose descendants, in fact, we all are) and is a skin fold of the upper eyelid, which we see with an eastern section of the eyes. By the way, it is thanks to this fold that the effect of “narrow” Mongoloid eyes is created.
9. Nipples in men.
Men have nipples and something similar to a woman's uterus. In turn, in women, next to the ovaries there are male vas deferens, which tend to become inflamed.
The wings of a flightless bird and the eyes of a deep-sea fish are all manifestations of an evolutionary quirk called “vestigation.” The existence of such excesses in the body is not justified by anything, but is steadily transmitted from generation to generation. We will talk about the most famous human rudiments and how they arose.
Coccyx
The most famous rudiment inherited from ancient ancestors is the coccyx (coccyx), a triangular bone formed by the fusion of 4-5 vertebrae. It once formed the tail, an organ for maintaining balance that also serves to transmit social signals. As man became an upright creature, all these functions were transferred to the forelimbs, and the need for a tail disappeared.
However, on early stages During development, the human embryo has a tail process, which is often preserved. About one in fifty thousand babies are born with a tail, which can be easily removed without harm to the body.
Appendix
The vermiform appendix of the cecum (appendix vermiformis) has long ceased to play any role in the human body. Presumably, it served for long-term digestion of solid foods - for example, cereals. The second theory is that the appendix acted as a reservoir for digestive bacteria, where they multiplied.
The adult appendix ranges from 2 to 20 centimeters in length, but in most cases its length is approximately ten centimeters. Inflammation of the appendix (appendicitis) is a very common disease, accounting for 89 percent of all surgical procedures. abdominal cavity.
Wisdom tooth
Third molars (molars) got their name because they erupt much later than all other teeth, at the age when a person becomes “wiser” - 16-30 years. The main function of wisdom teeth is chewing; they serve to grind food.
However, in every third person on Earth they grow incorrectly - they do not have enough space on the jaw arch, as a result of which they either begin to grow to the sides or injure their neighbors. In such cases, wisdom teeth have to be removed.
Vitamin C synthesis
Lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in the body can lead to scurvy with subsequent fatal. However, humans cannot independently synthesize this vitamin in their bodies, unlike most primates and other mammals.
Scientists have long assumed that humans had an organ responsible for the production of ascorbic acid, but confirmation of this was discovered only in 1994. Then a pseudogene was found responsible for the production of vitamin C, similar to that found in Guinea pigs. But modern man this function is disabled at the genetic level.
Vomeronasal organ (VNO)
IN social behavior animal pheromones play a dominant role. With their help, females attract males, and the gentlemen themselves mark the territory under their control. Most emotions are accompanied by the release of pheromones - fear, anger, peace, passion. A person relies more on verbal and visual components social communication, therefore the role of pheromone recognition is minimized.
Goose pimples
Goosebumps (cutis anserina) occur when the pilomotor reflex is triggered. The main motivators of this reflex are cold and danger. Wherein spinal cord produces stimulation of peripheral nerve endings, which raise the hair.
So in case of cold, raised hair allows you to retain more thermal air inside the cover. If danger arises, the increase in hair gives the animal a more massive appearance. In humans, the pilomotor reflex remains a vestige, since thick hair was lost during evolution
Male nipples
One of the earliest scientific theories suggested that nipples are a sign of a man's ability to breastfeeding, which was lost in the process of evolution. However later research showed that none of the males of our ancestors had such a body function.
Currently, it is generally accepted that nipples are formed at that stage of embryo development when its sex is not determined. And only later, when the embryo begins to independently produce hormones, can it be determined who will be born - a boy or a girl.
Today we will learn some very interesting facts about the Moon, because the Moon is a very mysterious, but natural satellite our planet Earth. It is noteworthy that in ancient times the Moon was worshiped by many pagan communities. This is due to the fact that three times a month the Moon changed its shape; they used the moon to determine when the month began and when it ended.
In addition, they compared the Moon with the ancient mother Goddess - the ancestor of all life on Earth. In fact, there is nothing magical or otherworldly about the Moon. Disappointed? Well, we want to tell you some amazing and very interesting facts about the Earth’s satellite.
Fact one: there are earthquakes on Earth, and moonquakes on the Moon. Many scientists believe that the Moon is not a satellite, but a full-fledged planet. The moon is too large to be a satellite. And since “Moonquakes” occur on the Moon, then perhaps it is as “alive” as the Earth. By “live” we mean constant movement earth's crust.
Fact two: there is a lot of garbage on the Moon. Do you know why? The astronauts who were on the moon left them there a large number of garbage. This trash isn't just plastic bags and Coke cans, it's trash left behind by experiments, lunar rovers, and space probes.
Fact three: at the moment when the Moon moves away from the Earth by long distances, the weather on Earth, the tides, begin to be the most predictable, but when it approaches, very powerful tides are created, and the weather on the planet becomes more and more unstable. It seems that in the fall the Moon is very close to the Earth...
Fact four: this satellite has a very sad story, because the Moon was able to survive a very heavy “bombardment”. This was a special period that lasted between three and four million years ago, during which time the Moon was subject to terrible meteor showers, as was the Earth.
Fact five: The moon is not round, but, as it were, egg-shaped. Even if you look closely, its unusual shape becomes noticeable.
Fact six: most of the inhabitants of our planet think that the Moon has a face. Have you noticed the face on the moon? Naturally, these are all kinds of craters and other relief objects of the satellite.
Image popmech.ru
Fact seven: the mass of the lunar crust is only four percent of the total weight of the Moon itself, unlike Earth's crust, its mass is thirty percent of total mass planets.
Fact eight: four and a half billion years ago, the Moon was at a distance of about twenty-three thousand kilometers from us, and was much larger - three times than it is now. Wonder why she lost size during her long journey? Was this an influence? meteor showers, unknown.
Fact nine: the largest lunar crater is located on invisible side from Earth, not far from south pole the Moon itself, and is called Aitken. And the crater that we see in the so-called face of the Moon is Bailey's crater.
Fact ten: lunar gravity can slow down the speed of rotation of our planet. Before the formation of the Moon, our planet rotated much faster.
Fact eleven: our planet Earth can accommodate forty-nine moons. This means that our Earth is forty-nine times bigger than the moon. Although, we repeat, the Moon is too big to be a satellite.
Fact twelve: The Moon is four hundred times smaller than the Sun, and four hundred times closer to the Earth. But, when looking at the Moon and the Sun from Earth, you will notice that they look absolutely identical in size, however, when the Moon rises, in some parts of our planet, it seems especially large. Remember Luna from Hollywood old movies?
Fact thirteen: for millions of years, traces of astronauts’ shoes will remain on the Moon. And this will not be surprising, because there are no winds or moisture on the Moon. So, we can safely say that you can leave a century-old footprint of your shoe on the Moon.
Fact fourteen: you won’t be able to find an atmosphere on the Moon, it simply isn’t there at all. It is for this reason that there is no twilight, but day and night come in an instant. That's it, no romance!
Fact fifteen: The sun rises in the morning and moves straight along the horizon in the same way every day, but the Moon has a very complex cycle, its length is about eighteen years.
Fact sixteen: before it became known that during solar eclipses, the Sun is blocked by the Moon, ancient people China believed that the sun was fighting a heavenly magic dragon, and they began to make noise to drive away the villain.
Fact seventeen: by the way, about the Deities. The moon was revered by the Greeks and Romans. They even provided the three Goddesses with the power of the moon: Diana was the young Moon, Selene was the Moon in its full phase, and Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft and the dark kingdom, was reverse side The moon that no one has seen. It was believed that Magic force works very well during the full moon. On the waxing moon, rituals must be performed for love, money and health, and on the waning moon, rituals must be performed for the death of an enemy, a break in relationships, and the expulsion of evil.
Fact eighteen: five thousand years ago the very first map of the Moon was created; it was created by unknown persons in ancient Ireland. The map was carved on a prehistoric grave, on a stone. Also, one of the oldest images of a map of the Moon is considered to be the image of Leonardo Da Vinci from the year one thousand five hundred and five.
Fact nineteen: the first traveler to the Moon was none other than the Soviet descent vehicle called Luna-2.
Fact twentieth, related to the disease Sleepwalking. You probably know that there are people on Earth who walk with full moon at night around the apartment, spinning, and so on. In general, Aristotle assumed that the Moon in a special way is capable of influencing the fluid in the human brain, driving him crazy or causing the like. inappropriate behavior like sleepwalking. A person suffering from such a disease needs strict control over himself at the moment
Full moon. By the way, ancient legends about werewolves also began based on Aristotle’s theory, namely “inappropriate behavior.” After all, a person who strips naked and attacks other people on full moon nights cannot this moment perceive the situation adequately, but in the morning such a person does not remember anything. By the way, sleepwalkers also do not remember that they walked on a full moon with their eyes closed.
The Moon is the cosmic body closest to Earth. However, despite this, the satellite of our planet hides a large number of secrets and mysteries that will be interesting to learn about.
The most Interesting Facts about the Moon that humanity knows or guesses about will be given below. And at the end of the list you will probably say that you didn’t know this.
- Despite the fact that our satellite has weak geological activity, earthquakes occur on it, and some of them reach sensitive 5-6 points on the Richter scale. Moonquakes have a diverse nature - collisions with meteorites, temperature changes due to the influence of the Sun. There are also particularly strong tremors, the nature of which is still unclear. There is a hypothesis that they occur under the influence of Earth's gravity. According to members of the Apollo 11 expedition, during such activity, a sound similar to the ringing of a bell is heard for some time.
- Contrary to conventional wisdom— The Moon does not revolve around the Earth, but the Earth and the Moon rotate around one point, which is called the barycenter. Thus, according to some, the Moon cannot be considered a satellite of the Earth, since the Moon and the Earth are double planet. This is also supported by the size of the Moon, which is a quarter of the diameter of the Earth. Other planets have much smaller satellites.
- There is debris on our satellite, the total weight of which is approximately 200 tons. And, of course, all this garbage was generated by human activity - these are the remains of satellites, all-terrain vehicles, rovers and other equipment that were launched from Earth.
- Astronomer Eugene Shoemaker dreamed of becoming an astronaut and visiting the Moon. However, his health did not allow him to realize his dream. Therefore, after his death, he bequeathed to scatter his ashes on the surface of the satellite. NASA did this in 1998. The crater where this happened was named Shoemaker.
- Moon dust has the smell of burnt gunpowder and is very dangerous for equipment. Due to the low gravity on the satellite, dust grains can reach high speeds, and their structure is very aggressive. Any item, even one made of durable metal, will be significantly worn out if exposed to such dust for a long time. During the Apollo 11 expedition, dust wore out and damaged the integrity of the astronauts' spacesuits, penetrated into the spacecraft and interfered in every possible way.
- Many people think that moving on the Moon is easy because of the low gravity. However, it is not. During the expedition, the leg of an astronaut in a heavy spacesuit could sink into the ground to a depth of 15 cm. And long jumps, due to the low force of gravity, became uncontrollable and dangerous, because there are deep craters on the surface.
- There are several theories about the origin of the Moon: the satellite used to be part of the Earth and separated from it; there used to be a satellite free body, but the earth captured him with its gravity; The moon appeared from the dust of debris that was formed from the collision of the Earth with another planet. Latest theory today the most reliable.
- When telling the most interesting facts about the Moon, it is necessary, of course, to mention its influence on humans. It is reliably known that during the full moon some people suffer from insomnia, others may have nightmares.
- Due to the lack of atmosphere on the satellite, the shadows are clear and contrasting. The contrast reaches the point that during the expedition the astronauts could not fully work with parts of the ship that were in the shadows. And if you hide in the shadows yourself, you may not see your own legs and arms.
- The moon does not have magnetic field. However, the stones brought from the expedition were magnetic. They probably got to the surface of the satellite from other cosmic bodies.
- Most craters appeared on the surface about 4 billion years ago. On Earth, these scars would have been overgrown long ago, but on the Moon there is no such strong geological activity, so they are still visible.
- This is the only cosmic body where man was.
- Our satellite has water in the form of ice, but no atmosphere.
- Yes, it is generally accepted that there is no atmosphere there, but in fact there is one, but it is very rarefied - 10 trillion times less dense than on Earth. Consists of hydrogen, neon, helium and argon.
- You can see it on the moon unusual phenomenon- dancing dust. Dust floats in the air for some time. She rises from behind magnetic influence other cosmic bodies, and most often occurs during sunset and sunrise.
- The ebb and flow of tides on Earth occur under the influence of the Moon's gravity. The satellite attracts water.
- The climate of our satellite is far from resort-like. During the day at the equator it can be hot at 127 degrees, and at night it can be cool - up to -170 degrees Celsius.
- 29.5 Earth days are the same as a day on the Moon.
- In 1969, the first and only human landing on the Moon was carried out as part of the Apollo 11 expedition. Neil Armstrong is the first man to walk on the moon. Today, progress has come so far that most smartphones have more processing power than the computers used on Apollo 11.
- The first device that landed on the surface belonged to the USSR and was called Luna-2. This happened in 1959.
- The satellite is visible to the inhabitants of the Earth only from one side. But this does not mean that the satellite does not rotate around its axis. It rotates. And its rotation period up to a second coincides with the rotation period of the earth. Therefore the other side is never seen.
- The most interesting facts about the Moon should also concern solar eclipses, which are visible from Earth. Complete solar eclipse the phenomenon is rare, and it occurs due to an amazing coincidence - the moon is 400 times closer to the Earth than the Sun, and exactly 400 times smaller in diameter than the Sun. Thus, when the Moon is in line with the Sun, they appear to be the same size from Earth.
- In the 70s, the UN declared that no state could become the owner of the Moon. However, the cunning American Dennis Howes immediately realized that we were talking only about states, and nothing was said about individuals. Therefore, he spontaneously became the owner of the Moon, founded a lunar embassy and sent his diplomatic note to other states. No matter how ridiculous the idea may seem, Howes made billions of dollars by selling plots on the Moon.
- The Sun newspaper published an article in 1835 about John Kershel, an astronomer who allegedly collected most powerful telescope and through it I was able to see fabulous unicorns, flying creatures, and beavers without a tail on our satellite. The issue sold out very quickly and was profitable for the publication. And even after the hoax was exposed, the newspaper's circulation did not fall. This event was called the “Great Moon Hoax.”