The Mystery of Wrinkly-When-Wet Fingers, Solved
Wrinkly Fingers Wikimedia Commons: Fir0002/Flagstaffotos Mystery of the century, you guys. No, the millenium. All times. A new paper in the journal Brain, Behavior and Evolution has a new answer to the eternal question: why do our fingers and toes get all wrinkly after bathtime? The answer: traction. The old solution is that wrinkling is simply the result of your fingers and toes absorbing water after a long period of being submerged. But there are problems with this! First: why is it only our fingers and toes that get wrinkly? Second: why is this such an unusual trait among mammals (only humans and macaques get wrinkly)? Third: why, if this is a simple tale of osmosis, do our fingers and toes cease to wrinkle when nerves to them are cut? The paper, which you can read here, suggests that wrinkled fingers actually provide drainage for water so as to ensure greater traction,...