evolutionary "leftovers" on humans

[MariaEvri]

hey all
I am making a list on traits of the human body that at first ahnd seem useless (something that an "intelligent" designer wouldnt include in a perfect design), but are explained with evolution
some examples I have are the wisdom teeth. I heard someweher that these teeth didnt cause much pain to ancient man cause they had a wider jaw, thus more space for them. Is that true?
Also, I am thinking of goose-bumples and the appendix (although im not sure what its purpose used to be).
Any mor examples, people?

[Smallville]

The coccyx, or tail-bone;
ear muscles;
nictitating membrane of the eye;
sense of smell.

[Jolly Sapper]

sense of smell.

I don't understand why that would be a left over, care to enlighten me?

Having enough body hair to make you really self conscious about going to a nude beach but the hair is not thick enough to actually keep you dry in the rain or warm in windy/cold weather.

The craving for foods that taste sweet.  In most of the western countries where a lot of our food is heavily processed and lacking in nutrients but pumped full of sweetener, having a craving for sweet junk food isn't useful.  Liking sweet tasting things was fine when free fruits and sweeter tasting vegetables were not so heavily processed before being consumed, these types of food tend to be much more nutrient dense.

Not the best examples I'm sure, but its something.

[weedoch]

As with the sweet tooth, we also have a craving for salt, which is why it enhances flavour - back in the day salt was hard to come by yet essential, so when the genetic change occured to make it tasty in small doses those animals did better and the gene got passed on. It's not really an evolutionary leftover, more a change of lifestyle over a very short period of time. As evolution is a random change which is then exploited by the organism, this is unlikely to be rectified other than as a random gene mutation.

[Smallville]

sense of smell.

I don't understand why that would be a left over, care to enlighten me?

Having enough body hair to make you really self conscious about going to a nude beach but the hair is not thick enough to actually keep you dry in the rain or warm in windy/cold weather.

The craving for foods that taste sweet.  In most of the western countries where a lot of our food is heavily processed and lacking in nutrients but pumped full of sweetener, having a craving for sweet junk food isn't useful.  Liking sweet tasting things was fine when free fruits and sweeter tasting vegetables were not so heavily processed before being consumed, these types of food tend to be much more nutrient dense.

Not the best examples I'm sure, but its something.

Just an opinion but the sense of smell is no longer vital to survival to the species as compared to the other senses. True, it enhances taste (try eating a slice of baked potato and one of an apple with a head cold and you cannot tell a difference); one can smell gas leaks; and on and on. But for survival purposes smell is obsolete. We don't need it to sense bad food, predators, pheromones for sexual urges.

[mrwynd]

i think pheromones still play a large enough part in sexual desire that we can call them useful (from an evolutionary standpoint).

[Will]

Don't forget male nipples. They're among the most common trait listed as evidence of evolution.

[MommaSquid]

Don't forget male nipples...

Damn, my mind went right in the gutter.  

[Will]

Don't forget male nipples...

Damn, my mind went right in the gutter.  

Oh it gets way better. Don't get me started on the incredible similarities between male and female sexual organs. I could go on for hours.

[Tanker]

I know it's not really a throw back, more like a developing trait but we are the only primate with webbing between our fingers, with the really big coincidence that we are the only primate that swims.

[MariaEvri]

nictitating membrane of the eye;
.

what was the purpose of that one?

[MariaEvri]

sense of smell.

I don't understand why that would be a left over, care to enlighten me?

Having enough body hair to make you really self conscious about going to a nude beach but the hair is not thick enough to actually keep you dry in the rain or warm in windy/cold weather.

me, beinga  kinda slightly hairy girl I can grunt and nod in agreement to that.

[MariaEvri]

As with the sweet tooth, we also have a craving for salt, which is why it enhances flavour - back in the day salt was hard to come by yet essential, so when the genetic change occured to make it tasty in small doses those animals did better and the gene got passed on. It's not really an evolutionary leftover, more a change of lifestyle over a very short period of time. As evolution is a random change which is then exploited by the organism, this is unlikely to be rectified other than as a random gene mutation.

Its still good enough to go on my list

Keep posting guys. Im learning awesome things

[MariaEvri]

I know it's not really a throw back, more like a developing trait but we are the only primate with webbing between our fingers, with the really big coincidence that we are the only primate that swims.

really inteersting. Maybe im some point in our evolution, we lived near the beach, or something similar.

[Smallville]

Don't forget male nipples. They're among the most common trait listed as evidence of evolution.

Darn, I forgot that one. It's one of my most favorite lines David Warner uses in "Time Bandits".