Some examples of vestigial structures in humans include the appendix, which is believed to be a remnant of a larger cecum that was used for digesting cellulose when humans had a plant-based diet; the coccyx, or tailbone, which is a vestigial tail that remains from our primate ancestors; and wisdom teeth, which are believed to have been used for chewing tough plant material but are no longer necessary due to changes in human diet and jaw size.
Other vestigial structures in humans include the plica semilunaris, a fold of skin in the inner corner of the eye that is believed to be a remnant of a nictitating membrane found in other animals; and the erector pili muscles, which are responsible for causing hair to stand on end in animals but are largely nonfunctional in humans.
While these structures may not serve a purpose in humans today, they provide evidence of our evolutionary history and the shared ancestry we have with other animals.
Humans have a lot of homologous structures in common with other animals, and several of these structures are longer in working order in human bodies. These nonfunctioning structures are called vestigial structures. They still show evidence of common ancestry, but they do not the same things in humans as they do in other animals.
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