12 Body Parts And Functions We Bet You Never Knew Existed

By Missy aka Tizzy in Health and Fitness On 30th January 2018
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Male breast milk

You probably have wondered why men have nipples if they are not able to breastfeed. Scientists have had a hard time figuring that out too. As it turns out, men do have mammary glands. However, the is so little tissue inside that they have no real function. But, there is a very small minority of men who have gynecomastia which will cause a man to develop large mammary glands which could also cause them to lactate.

The vas deferens

The vas deferens is a little tube next to the testicles. It carries sperm from the epididymis to the ejaculatory duct. Basically, it allows semen to release when a man orgasms. It is a major part of the male reproductive system that most people do not know about.

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The stapedius

This is the smallest muscle in the human body. Its function is to control the stapes that send vibrations to our brains. Without this muscle, everything that we hear would be incredibly loud.

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The mesentery

Until recently, nobody knew that the mesentery had any sort of function. Scientists thought that it was just a mass of broken tissue. We now know that the mesentery allows blood vessels and nerves to travel to certain organs in the body. Leonardo Da Vinci discovered its function back in 1508, but scientists did not recognize it as an organ until 2017.

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The tail

Did you know that humans used to have tails? What you may not know is that all of us develop a tail while in the womb. It is a leftover from our ancestors that drops off as the baby grows.

The anatomical snuffbox

The deepening on the side of your hand is called the anatomical snuffbox. It is not always visible and is anatomically unnecessary. We just wonder how it got such a bizarre name.

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Vanishing bones

Adult human will lose 144 bones that they had as babies. Babies are born with 300 bones, and adults have 206 bones. The bones do not necessarily disappear. They simply fuse with other bones to make larger bones.

The floating bone

Also known as the hyoid bone, it is located under the tongue. It helps keep your tongue in place and is what allows you to speak. It is called a floating bone because it is not attached to any other bone in the body. It is connected to the body through the muscles in your throat.

The third eyelid

The third eyelid is a transparent membrane found in the eyes of birds, reptiles, and certain mammals. This third eyelid protects their eyes by keeping them moist so they can see well enough to hunt. If you look at the corner of your human eye, you will see a remnant that is left over of the third eyelid that humans used to have.

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Dimples of Venus

There are a lot of people, especially women, who have two dimples just above their butts. It is thought that they make it much easier for women to orgasm because those indents allow for better circulation around the pelvis.

The second nose

Our second nose is also known as Jacobson's organ. It is a collection of sensory naval cells that can detect pheromones from other human beings. Pheromones are the chemicals that we emit to attract potential partners. It only takes a half a second to detect another person's pheromones and will influence whether we find them attractive or not.

The claw retractor

Also knowns as the palmaris longus, most people have a claw retractor. It is the muscle connecting the elbow to the hand. You probably did not even know that it existed because it serves no function in modern humans. For our ancestors, the claw retractor provided the arms and fist with extra strength when they were undergoing any strenuous activity.

It is absolutely amazing that we have so many parts of our bodies that new ones are being discovered even today. There is an incredible amount of processes that go on within our body that we don't even notice. Our bodies are truly incredible. Make sure you treat yours as such.