Dieser Körperteil, den mehr als 15 % der Weltbevölkerung nicht mehr haben … Und Sie, haben Sie ihn noch?

The body part that more than 15% of the world’s population no longer has is the palmaris longus muscle.

This is a slender muscle that runs from the elbow to the wrist and is involved in wrist flexion, although it’s considered a weak flexor and its absence generally doesn’t affect grip strength significantly.

Here’s how you can check if you still have it:

1. Touch your pinky finger to your thumb and then flex your wrist slightly.
2. If you have a prominent tendon that pops out in the middle of your inner wrist, then your palmaris longus muscle is present.
3. If you don’t see or feel this tendon, it’s likely that you are among the 15% (or potentially even higher depending on your ethnic background, as the prevalence varies) of the population who congenitally lack this muscle in one or both arms.

So, to answer your question, try the simple test above to see if you still have your palmaris longus muscle! It’s a fascinating example of a vestigial structure, a part of the body that has lost much of its ancestral function over evolutionary time.