I’ve long wondered whether or not humans were done evolving and what we might look like if we weren’t. Would we grow a sixth finger to improve our grip like former professional baseball player Antonio Alfonseca? Would autism rise to the point where every single person winds up on the spectrum in order to better help us interact with computers? Would we gain new abilities or senses such as enhanced vision? Would we require less sleep? What, if anything, will happen to us in the years to come?
The possibilities are endless and hard to predict but now it seems as though we may have some clarity into the issue. As evidence of recent human micro evolution seems to be emerging. Starting with the emergence of an additional blood vessel in our arms.
Science Alert explains:
“Picturing how our species might appear in the far future often invites wild speculation over stand-out features such as height, brain size, and skin complexion. Yet subtle shifts in our anatomy today demonstrate how unpredictable evolution can be.
Take something as mundane as an extra blood vessel in our arms, which going by current trends could be common place within just a few generations.
Researchers from Flinders University and the University of Adelaide in Australia have noticed an artery that temporarily runs down the centre of our forearms while we’re still in the womb isn’t vanishing as often as it used to.
That means there are more adults than ever running around with what amounts to be an extra channel of vascular tissue flowing under their wrist.
‘Since the 18th century, anatomists have been studying the prevalence of this artery in adults and our study shows it’s clearly increasing,’ says Flinders University anatomist Teghan Lucas.
‘The prevalence was around 10 percent in people born in the mid-1880s compared to 30 percent in those born in the late 20th century, so that’s a significant increase in a fairly short period of time, when it comes to evolution.'”
What is the point of this extra blood vessel? Is it to support the growth of larger hands? Perhaps hands that now have six fingers?!?! That’s not clear. But what is clear is that humans are evolving. At a faster rate than any other time over the last 250 years. In fact, in addition to an extra blood vessel in our arm we’re also being born without wisdom teeth and with shorter faces, smaller jaws, and extra bones in our legs and feet. A venerable who’s who of excess body parts.
Hopefully, as time goes on we continue to evolve even further to the point where we gain bigger brains, larger attention spans, and more intelligence. Because it is becoming increasingly clear that all of those are in short supply during today’s day and age! But to be honest I’d settle for any new body part on account of who cool it is to say that I’ve evolved something new. Especially if it’s a third nipple.
Humans are still evolving. Will we all wind up like Antonio Alfonseca?
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