Question

Name the Vestigial part of the human alimentary canal.

Answer 1

The evolution is the result of gene mutation which leads to the change in the protein structure. The vestigial organ is one such example of mutation and evolution. These are the organs which were functional in the ancestors but due to evolution it has lost its function and is no longer useful to us. Adaptation is the result of evolution.

Complete answer:
To answer this question first we should know what is a vestigial organ and which organs are present in our alimentary canal.
- Vestigial organs are those which are non-functional in an organism but are functional in related animals or in the ancestors of the organism.
-There are around Ninety organs in human beings which are considered to be vestigial.
Such as wisdom teeth, tailbone, nictitating membrane, tonsil etc.
-Alimentary canal which starts from the mouth and ends to the anus performs the function of digestion of the food we eat. It can digest a variety of foods whether it is a plant product or animal product.
-Food enters through our mouth where secretions of salivary glands help to digest the food and then food goes to the stomach through a food pipe or oesophagus. After getting secretions from the stomach, food goes into the small intestine where nutrients are absorbed into the blood after which it goes to the large intestine where water is absorbed and then finally excreted out through the anus.
- Large intestine has a pouch known as the Caecum which is considered as the beginning of the large intestine. This part is located on the right side of the body which has a finger-like blind-ended tube known as the appendix or vermiform appendix.
- Vermiform appendix is considered to be the vestigial part of the human alimentary canal; it is said that human ancestors may have relied upon the appendix for the digestion of cellulose when they lived on a diet that was rich in plant products. Now people start eating food which is easily digestible and thus, the appendix becomes no longer important.

Note: Vestigial organs are the useless part of the body at present. It is important to note that wisdom teeth in the human mouth are also the vestigial part but they are not counted as an organ of the human alimentary canal. Another example of the vestigial organ in humans is extrinsic ear muscle.