The most famous theory of evolution, which was presented by Charles Darwin in 1859, has been a hot topic since the book “On the Origin of Species” was published.
It’s been scrutinized and argued for over a century now, and there are still those that quickly dismiss the logic for a myriad of reasons. Despite what you think of Darwin’s theory, the evidence of evolution is right in front of you – on your own body.
Take for instance the goosebumps you get when you get a chill. Goosebumps are caused by a tiny muscle contraction on the surface of the skin that makes our hair stand up straight. This was useful when our ancient ancestor’s bodies were covered in thick hair because a thicker layer of hair created a better layer of insulation.
Granted, not all of us have that same layer of body hair, but the tiny muscles in our skin still contract the same way. They also contract when we get a proverbial “chill” like hearing a noise in the middle of the night. That same muscle contraction would have made our, now non-existent, body hair puff out like an angry cat.
In the following video, you will see other examples of evolutionary evidence that you can check yourself for.
Most notably, the presence of a vestigial muscle in your forearm known as the palmris longus. This muscle is one that has slowly disappeared from about 85-90% of people over time, but some people still have it.
If you lay your arm flat on a hard surface, touch your pinky and thumb, and slightly curl your wrist up – if you have this evolutionary holdover you should see a tendon right in the middle of your wrist. Don’t fret if you don’t see the tendon, it has nothing to do with hand strength. If you do see it, even just in one arm, you are one of the rare people that still have this trait of our ancient ancestors.
