• Question: why do we need toes?

    Asked by 8074pd to Hywel, Joseph, Poonam on 24 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Dr Hywel Jones

      Dr Hywel Jones answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      Hmmmm, interesting Q. Well I think the experience of people who have lost toes or part of their feet is that toes are essential for helping us to balance and walk. Get a friend to walk in bare feet and watch what their toes do. Now imagine trying to walk with no toes or with completely rigid toes.

    • Photo: Joseph Cook

      Joseph Cook answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      I think toes help us with balance and give us a degree of agility with our feet. We probably have them because we are evolved from primates which would have used all four limbs to climb and swing in the trees as well as for tasks that need more dexterity, like peeling a banana. As time progressed, we probably evolved flatter feet because we spent more time walking and running than we did in the trees.

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