vestigial

Vestigial is used to describe something, especially a part of an organism, that used to have a function but has now shrunk and is mostly not used anymore.

Vestigial is an adjective form of the noun vestige, meaning something left over from a previous version.

Vestigial is used in science to describe structures like animal organs, tissues, or bones that may have been used by an ancestor but aren’t anymore. For example, snakes have vestigial structures where limbs would have been when they walked on four legs.

Even though they serve no function, vestigial structures do not disappear completely because they don’t reduce the likelihood that the animal will reproduce.

Even humans have vestigial organs and vestigial structures. The coccyx—that tiny bone at the bottom of your spinal cord—is believed to be a vestigial structure left over from an ancient ancestor that had a prehensile tail.

Vestigial can also be applied to the specific parts, as in Whales have vestigial pelvic bones from a time when they walked on land.

Example: The human appendix was once thought to be vestigial but scientists think it may still have a function.

The first records of vestigial come from the 1880s. It comes from the Latin vestīgi(um), meaning “footprint.” Appropriately enough, a vestigial structure acts as a “footprint” of something that used to be there.

While vestigial structures themselves are often useless or have very minor functions, they are very useful to scientists. That’s because vestigial structures can give clues about the evolutionary history of an animal. For example, they may be evidence of limbs or organs that an ancestor had many generations ago.

What are some other forms related to vestigial?

• vestigially (adverb)

What are some synonyms for vestigial?

• leftover
• residual

What are some words that share a root or word element with vestigial? 

• vestigial organ
• vestige

What are some words that often get used in discussing vestigial?

• structure
• organ
• bone
• tail
• limb

Vestigial is mostly used in discussions of science, particularly evolution.

Ever wondered what that little bump on your ear is? It's used to help us move our ears around like monkeys do, and it's a vestigial structure, or "evolutionary leftover" 👀🙉https://t.co/T8b4vT5f92

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) January 17, 2019

Vestigial structures and our very own evolution! https://t.co/6y2ouE3Bej

— Dr. Carin Anne Bondar (@carinbondar) April 25, 2016

Sad how turn signals have become vestigial structures

— Greg Rose (@gregrose98) October 7, 2018

Is vestigial used correctly in the following sentence?

Penguins have vestigial wings that an ancient ancestor most likely used in order to fly.