Why wrinkled fingers when soaked in water?

Many people have ever wondered, even worried about their health because of the wrinkled, ugly skin of hands, feet and skin like the dried water raisins.

A new study found that the fingers and toes were wrinkled when soaked in water to help us grasp or cling to wet objects.

When people's hands and feet are soaked in water, wrinkles will gradually form at the tips of the fingers and toes. Scientists once thought that this wrinkling phenomenon was derived from the absorption of the outer layer of skin and swelling of the water. However, recent studies reveal that the nervous system actively controls wrinkling by shrinking blood cells under the skin.

The control of the nervous system shows that wrinkles at the fingertips and toes have some effect.

The fingers will become wrinkled when immersed for a long time in the water.

The Science page quoted researcher Tom Smulders, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Newcastle, who said: 'The phenomenon of being familiar with people is not the side effect of the nature of the skin. fingers and toes, which are functional characteristics that may have been selected during evolution '.

Through the experiment, Mr. Smulders and his colleagues found that the wrinkled fingers of water soaked will hold things better in wet conditions, similar to tire tracks that help the wheels cling to the road surface. Another possibility is that wrinkling causes changes in skin properties, such as elasticity and stickiness, to better grip fingers when wet.

Mr Smulders said this could be an evolutionary trait that helps people collect food from wet trees or rivers. This effect also occurs on the toes (wrinkled skin that helps the feet stick to the road surface and other surfaces), suggesting that this may be an advantage that helps our ancestors move better under the sky. rain.

The team found that the wrinkled fingers did not seem to make any difference when holding dry objects.'This raises the question of why we don't evolve to possess permanently wrinkled fingers. Our initial guess is that this phenomenon may reduce sensitivity at the fingertips or may increase the risk of injury when handling objects. All need further research , ' said Mr Smulders.

The scientist said that future studies also need to find out if the same phenomenon occurs in other animals, including primates and non-primates. And that will help reveal the time and cause of this evolutionary trait.