What do you think the appendix is for? I know it's unknown, but what is your hypothesis?

Answer 1

Many mammals have a cecum, a part of the digestive tract which helps to break down tough plant fibers. Because humans do not eat grass or bushes, ours has evolved to become a small remnant of the cecum that we call an appendix. It doesn't seem to serve any purpose, besides getting infected.

Answer 2

It's a vestigial organ - meaning that it does not necessarily serve any function at all in present day humans. Remember, evolution doesn't just scrap parts of the body just because they outlived their usefulness, so we have vestigial structures like the appendix and wisdom teeth.

The appendic has some lymphatic tissue, so it may help to protect the digestive system. It probably served some digestive function when it was useful thousands of years ago - maybe it secreted some enzymes to help to digest or detoxify some plant that is no longer around? That's all speculation though, and the answer may never be known for sure.

Answer 3

Niotulove and jellybeanchick are both correct. There are *many* organs and structures in the human body that have no function. They only make sense if you recognize that the same structure does have a function in other animals *and* we evolved from the ancestors of those other animals.

The appendix is a left over cecum ... used by other mammals for digesting plants.

Other examples of these 'leftovers' are wisdom teeth, the tailbone, the muscles used for wiggling your ears (used in other mammals to move their ears in the direction of sound), gill folds and webbed fingers and toes in human embryos, the fine muscles that give you goosebumps (used in other mammals to fluff up the fur when cold or threatened), the plantaris muscle in your calf (a long thin and completely useless muscle in your calf, that is used for grasping with the feet in other primates).

Or consider your big toe. Yes, we use all our toes for balance, but why is the inside one fatter than all the others?

The answer is that the big toe was once a thumb ... i.e. apparently some ancestor was grasping with the feet. It had to be fatter, and have more strength and control than all the other toes because it had to be 'opposable' for grasping, the way the thumb works in the hand. Need more evidence? Notice that your big toe has one less bone (one less joint) than all the other toes, the way your thumb has one less bone (one less knuckle) than your other fingers. Notice that you can wiggle your big toe with more control than all the other toes ... evidence of more nerves and muscles dedicated to the big toe. Notice the extra pad of muscle at the base of the big toe, much bigger than the other toes, equivalent the the larger muscle pad in your palm at the base of your thumb.

In other words these vestigial structures don't do anything now, but they once did.

Answer 4

The appendix is composed of tissue similar to the lymphatic tissue found in other places of the body. It is thought that, when our diets weren't as clean per se, the appendix was responsible for making sure they didn't give us food poisoning. At this point, it is basically useless and just causes a lot of problems.

Answer 5

I've had my appendix taken out right b4 it burst. and yes nobody knows what it's use is. I think it could be a time bomb. because when it's set you only have a limited amount of time. There is no positive use for this so called organ. So It's basically a bomb waiting to blow up.

Answer 6

I really don't know... but.. it is a time bomb...
I had my appendix removed when I was 5, as soon as the doctor removed it, he yelled "Fire in the hole!!" tossed it out a wind and it blew up in the parking lot.