Imagining how the evolutionary course of the human species could continue keeps generating speculation. How the habits that humanity has adopted could generate changes in the structure of the body, is one of the great questions that usually arise in scientific spheres. We know that evolution advances even though our passage through here does not allow us to immediately see the changes. Nevertheless, they are there; they are brewing just under our skin. Researchers have discovered a subtle transformation that shows that we continue to advance evolutionarily; every day more humans are born with an extra artery.
Even the smallest part of our body is essential to its functioning; a subtle change could represent the transformation of the organism. Think of something as mundane as an extra blood vessel in our arms, which could become a common feature of humanity in the future.
The formation of life within the human uterus is one of the most amazing processes. The mere fact of gestation of life within itself is already a remarkable event. But it is elevated in a brighter sense when we discover all that is involved in forming a tiny little body with all the functionalities that make it possible for you to be reading these lines right now.
While we are still in gestation, our arms develop an additional early artery. Called the median artery, it forms early during the gestation process in all human beings. Its function is to carry extra blood through the center of our arms, to feed our growing hands. But once it fulfills its function, about eight weeks later, it recedes and atrophies, leaving its task to the other two arteries of the arms: the radial (thanks to which we feel the pulse in our wrists) and the ulnar artery.
However, the evolution has kept its course, and every day more and more people are born with this additional artery in perfect working order. Anatomists have known for some time that the remission of the middle artery is not a guarantee. That is, it is known that, at the beginning of the 20th century, more people were born with the middle artery in their arms. And it continues to happen more frequently each time.
The fact that the artery appears to be three times more common in adults today than it was more than a century ago is a surprising finding. It suggests that natural selection is favoring those who hold on to that much extra blood in their arms. In fact, according to the researchers responsible for this finding, having an extra artery could be the cause of more dexterous fingers and stronger forearms. Although it also has its shortcomings, as it poses an increased risk of carpal tunnel syndrome.
“If this trend continues, most people will have the median forearm artery by 2100,” says Teghan Lucas, an anatomist at Flinders University and author of the research.
As small as this modification is, it is a clear manifestation that evolution continues to brew beneath our skin right now. And it also reminds us of the wisdom of our bodies as they slowly adapt to the conditions we provide.
Text and photos courtesy of Ecoosfera
Translated by María Isabel Carrasco Cara Chards
