Fins, fingers, and toes. Though they might seem similar, it turns out that they aren’t as connected as sometimes suggested.
In fact, a new study in Nature has taken a closer look at how human hands and feet evolved, and has found that their appendages may have emerged from a regulatory region of the genome, active in fish for millions of years, not for the formation of the fins but for the formation of the cloaca — an opening involved in excretion and reproduction.
Talk about a surprise. But, according to the study authors, the results reveal much more than the shocking roots of our fingers and toes, emphasizing the role of recycling in evolution. Indeed, the fishy origin of our appendages stresses that evolution is a thrifty force, reusing the regulatory genes of old structures for new structures over time.
Read More: You May Have Sensitive Teeth Because of ...
