The scientists in Australia found that more and more humans, specifically adults, have an extra artery in their arms as they continue to evolve at a rapid rate.
Dr. Teghan Lucas at Flinders University and Professor Maciej Henneberg and Dr. Jaliya Kumaratilake at the University of Adelaide conducted an investigation through which they noticed that humans are undergoing a micro-evolution—in this case, evolutionary changes can be noticed over a short period of time.
Human Evolution Is Still Going on
The forearm artery forms while a baby is in the mother's womb but usually disappears after birth and replaced it by radial and ulnar arteries. But in some cases, people retain all three. As per the recent findings, which was published in the Journal of Anatomy, a "significant increase" has been noticed in the prevalence of the median artery since the late 19th Century.
For their study, the Australian scientists analyzed published records in anatomical literature and identified the cadavers from individuals born in the 20th Century.
According to Dr. Lucas, since the 18th Century, anatomists have been researching the prevalence of this artery in adults. But the new study has clearly shown that it is increasing. She explained that the prevalence was almost 10 percent in those who were born in the mid-1880s "compared to 30 percent in those born in the late 20th Century, so that's a significant increase in a fairly short period of time when it comes to evolution."
The study authors noted that as increasing numbers of cases retain it, a person can develop all three arteries. "People born 80 years from now will all carry a median artery if the trend continues," the study says.
Evolution Is Faster than Ever
As per Dr. Lucas, humans are evolving at a faster rate than they did at any point of time in the past 250 years and the recent study is the evidence. But this is not the only example of human evolution as many babies are being born without wisdom teeth. As an explanation to this scenario Dr. Lucas said that as the faces are getting shorter, the smaller jaw hardly leaves a place for the wisdom teeth.
The scientists also found that some people are being born with additional bones in their legs and arms and legs. It was also noticed that in some cases people develop abnormal connections of two or more bones in their feet. However, as per the researchers, changes in natural selection could be the major reason for micro-evolution.
