Why five fingers? Is there any evolutionary advantage or other reason why we have fve fingers instead of some

Question

other number?

Answer 1

It has to do with our evolutionary history and Hox gene expression. These gene patterns divide the embryonic limb bud into five sectors, and the expression of specific Hox genes in each domain specifies the developmental fate of that region. With only five Hox-encoded domains across the limb bud, there is a developmental constraint that prohibits the evolution of more than five different types of digits.

Answer 2

A similar number of digits is found in most mammals, but there is a range from three to six in expression. The appearance of four fingers tends to be less frequent than for six fingers to be present. A deviation in digit counts, or even stunted fingers, is not an evolutionary expression but an often obvious indication of a problem in development, as in a detrimental abnormality.

Part of the moral baggage with evolutionary thinking that came from Darwin, is based on his presumptive thesis of the link of evolution to a concept he called 'survival of the fittest'. When nature produced a different feature and it was extraordinarily successful, then organisms with that feature flourished, often at the expense of lesser-developed organisms. There was a logical conclusion then, that the expression of organisms we see today are therefore the current pinnacle of development along those lines.

Since humans developed with five fingers and five toes on each respective hand and foot, and six-fingered people don't have a survival or reproductive advantage, then that seems to be the number we are stuck with. From an evolutionary point of view.

The Creationists say, except for the exceptions, we all have five digits because God programmed it in our DNA. Creationists also like to point to the fascinating complex balance of the components of the human body and say it takes more faith to believe that humans are merely successful biological freaks of nature, an incredibly long chain of successful mutations, of biological accidents that worked. Take your pick.

Answer 3

We developed from a pentadactyl ancestor.
It just happened that in our line, animals and people with more fingers, or with deformed fingers didn't reproduce more than the organisms and people with five good fingers.

Answer 4

actually on each hand we have 4 fingers and 1 thumb