Why Do Fingers Wrinkle in Water? | Smartest Year Ever (Jan 15, 2025)
About this episode
Why do fingers wrinkle in water? It’s not just a bath-time oddity—it’s evolutionary genius. Gordy dives into how wrinkly fingertips act as natural rain treads to improve grip in wet conditions. Learn how this process is controlled by your autonomic nervous system and why evolution gave us this clever survival trick.
Order of Contents:
Introduction: Why wrinkling happens.
The evolutionary edge: Grip advantage on wet surfaces.
The science: Nerves, blood vessels, and drainage systems.
Why we don’t stay wrinkled all the time.
Sources:Kareklas, K., Nettle, D., & Smulders, T. V. (2013). Water-induced finger wrinkles improve handling of wet objects. Biology Letters, 9(2), 20120999. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2012.0999Changizi, M. A., Weber, R., Kotecha, R., & Palazzo, J. (2011). Are wet-induced wrinkled fingers primate rain treads? Brain, Behavior and Evolution, 77(4), 286–290. https://doi.org/10.1159/000328226
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