All You Need To Know About Pinky Toe
The feet are an important part of the human body. Human movement is basically dependent on it. However, some may wonder what the importance of the toes, and especially the Pinky toe.
Therefore this article highlights some important information regarding the smallest member of the toe family.
The fifth toe is called the small toe, baby toe, or pinky toe because of its size. However, contrary to its name, its role in our everyday life is not so small.
Like all other toes, it helps us walk and run without tripping or losing balance and helps in swimming.
However, it is important to note that this small toe was not always small in size.
Why the Pinky Toe is Small
Millions of years ago, the small toe was bigger. The forefathers of the Homo sapiens primarily used their hands and feet to grab, claw, jump, or climb. When these ancestors gradually evolved to homo sapiens and started getting accustomed to the environment, they began walking on their feet.
As a result, the need for the fifth toe decreased, and it evolved embryologically.
Hence, it became less important than the other four and got smaller in size.
Importance of the Pinky Toe
In modern humans, the small toe is not as significant as the other four. Therefore, a person can live without it, although there can be problems in balance while jumping, walking, or running.
The human foot is made up of 26 bones and 30 joints. Moreover, there are more than a hundred muscles, ligaments, and tendons present in it. All these form a complex system together that helps in movement and balance.
As a result, when even the smallest part goes missing or becomes non-functional, unstable movements are noticed. There are three major parts of a human foot- hindfoot, forefoot, and midfoot. The toes are a part of the forefoot. There are two primary bones in the hallux or thumb toe, whereas the other toes contain three small bones.
These five toes join with the midfoot through 5 long bones named metatarsals. Similarly, the hindfoot and midfoot are connected through cuboid and cuneiform bones. This whole system is connected to the talus, the ankle bone.
When a human is walking or standing still, most of their body weight gets supported by the heel. The big and pinky toe is used here for forefoot stabilization.
The foot rolls to medial from lateral while taking a step with a push-off motion.
Further Evolution of the Pinky Toe
Evolution theory suggests that a part that remains unused or is useless gets obsolete gradually. In modern humans, the balancing point of the feet has shifted towards the big toe.
This is the reason why it is the biggest compared to the other four. It is evident that humans rely less on the Pinky toe for movement, and in the future, it may get useless.
Hence, as per the evolution history, it will become obsolete. However, such an evolution may take another million years.
Therefore this is some information regarding the Pinky toe. It is not an integral part of the human movement system, although it still has some significance.
