why are these structures vestigial?

Question

Need help for our biology class. Why are the following structures vestigial? (Individual answers for each . . . for example, the appendix is vestigial because...., teh coccyx is vestigial because...., the little toe is vestigial because,etc.)

-Appendix
-Coccyx (tail bones)
-Muscles that move ears
-Muscles that make hair stand up
-Little toe
-Wisdom teeth

Answer 1

These are all vestigial because they were more useful in our ancestors, but they aren't useful for those purposes now.

1. Appendix - probably was similar to a caecum for better digestion of rough vegetation.
2. Coccyx - left from any predecessors that had tails.
3. Muscles that move ears - we don't move our ears around to detect predators or prey any more.
4. We don't have enough hair on our bodies to be effective at either keeping us warm or making us look larger.
5. I disagree with this one being vestigial because it still helps us with balance.
6. Wisdom teeth - ancestors ate rougher foods and needed these extra molars, but we have different diets and our jaws are getting smaller. We don't have room for these any more.

Answer 2

I agree wth ecolink, accept that, eventually, I think that we will discover that the appendix is not vestigial. It is comprised of a lot of lymphoid tissue, I find it strange that is should be linked to grass and roughage digestion in our ancestors. But that's just my opinion.
I agree about the little toe, without it, the entire foot would be narrower, but then, our entire foot could consist of the big toe, and then the four other toes fused together in a rough, flexible paddle, with little detriment to our lives. So in effect, the four side toes are all vestigial, being left over from when we used them for climbing trees.

Answer 3

dr morton or ms targett?