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Babies are no longer being born with wisdom teeth, as humans are evolving faster than at any time in the past 250 years, research has shown.
Shorter faces, extra bones in feet and legs, and an artery in the forearm are among a slew of anatomical differences recorded in modern humans.
Australian scientists have said in a report that the species is experiencing a microevolution, where changes take place over a short period of time, after reaching a “relaxed state” of natural selection.
Dr Teghan Lucas, of Flinders University in Adelaide, and the report’s lead author, said: “A lot of people thought humans have stopped evolving. But our study shows we are still evolving, faster than at any point in the past 250 years.”
Researchers found evidence that humans now have more bones in their feet, while wisdom teeth are becoming obsolete. Most people are born with four wisdom teeth at the back of gums until they push through at adolescence. Anthropologists believe wisdom teeth provided a helpful tool to early humans who used them to eat tough or uncooked foods. But evolutionary changes are making them redundant.