• Question: Why do we need 8 fingers and 2 thumbs why can't we have 3 thumbs and 7 fingers?

    Asked by Pip to Alex, Ali, Kerry, Philip, Theo on 17 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Alex Pool

      Alex Pool answered on 17 Nov 2014:

      maybe over time we’ll evolve to have more. At the moment that’s just how we’ve evolved to be over thousands of years. I certainly know a few more arms and hands would be useful though! 🙂

    • Photo: Alison Thomson

      Alison Thomson answered on 17 Nov 2014:

      We’ve evolved to be pretty much symmetrical, so if we were to have an extra thumb instead of a finger we wouldn’t be symmetrical anymore. Also, we didn’t always have opposable thumbs – we’ve evolved to have them! Maybe if we need another one our bodies will evolve in the future to have an extra thumb instead of an 8th finger!

      Interesting question!

    • Photo: Philip Ratcliffe

      Philip Ratcliffe answered on 17 Nov 2014:

      Never heard the expressions “to be all thumbs” meaning to be very awkward and clumsy, especially with your hands?
      Again, probably the evolution process has selected that combination as the most useful.

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