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Asked by my1es0d to Jamie, Jodie, Kat, Mark, Niamh on 21 Mar 2011 in Categories: General.
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Jamie Pringle answered on 15 Mar 2011:
Hello my1es0d,
This is not my expertise Im afraid, perhaps Kat can give you a decent answer. As far as I know we used to need one when we were purely vegetarians but we have evolved to become omnivores and it is no longer necessary. Perhaps in a million or two years time, humans then wont have it!
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Mark Hill answered on 15 Mar 2011:
This is not really my field,(excuse the pun), but I believe that it is a left over from our dim and distant ancestors, who used to be more herbivorous. The appendix, as with grazing animals today, would have been much larger, with cellulose processing bacteria within. This would have allowed processing of plant matter more efficiently. Those days are now over, by many years, and the appendix has gradually got smaller, to become the now insignificant remnant of our grazing past that it is. That is, until it sometimes becomes inflamed and needs removing – appendicitis.
I hope that this helps.
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Niamh Nic Daeid answered on 16 Mar 2011:
Hi Myles
Good question, not one I can answer with great authority. The appendix was important when humans ate only vegetation rather than meat.
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Jodie Dunnett answered on 21 Mar 2011:
I’m not sure about this one, hopefully a biologist has already answered this question for you!
Comments
bones commented on :
Jamie is correct there. The appendix was a organ which when humans ate vegetations like grass, leaves etc, the appendix was vital. Later, we came to become omnivores, so the appendix is now a useless or for some a life-threatening useless organ.
Jamie commented on :
Ta bones! And they said Id never use my ‘A’ level biology!
Jamie commented on :
As far as my limited knowledge goes, the appendix used to be much larger, like the ruminants (cows etc) have multiple stomachs to transfer the grass around the different stomachs to try and break it down more. Grass is full of silica apparently and you only get ~5% of the energy in it out so they have to digest it a lot – hence the phrase ‘to ruminate’ I guess.
emilyh commented on :
cool!! ♥