Are Humans Evolving To Lose Our Smallest Toe?

No, this is a bit of an "old wive's tale."  Our smallest toe (or 'pinkie toe' as some call it) is here to stay.  This is because organisms don't just lose traits or appendages simply because they aren't useful anymore.  There would need to be a threat to our survival or reproduction, directly caused by us having our smallest toe.  In that scenario, individuals born with smaller pinkie toes would have an advantage over those with longer ones.  Over many generations, this would cause pinkie toes to get smaller and smaller, until gone.

This is how whales lost their small hind legs, for example.  A more streamlined whale swims faster, and so evades predators and catches food faster.  This drove their legs to get smaller and smaller until they virtually vanished (though in skeletons you can still see their pelvises).  However, there are no pressures like this involving our pinkie toes.


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