No Stupid Questions

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Why do humans have finger/toenails? (lemm.ee)

submitted 2 months ago by ALostInquirer@lemm.ee to c/nostupidquestions@mander.xyz

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They seem like one more bodily detail to tend to without much benefit, and sometimes more detriment (breaking a nail or scratching oneself up, ouch!).

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[–] andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 months ago

I encountered this in some paper encyclopedia as a fun fact and I struggle to google it now, so probably it's BS. I recall people who make world records out of their nail lenght use acryl and oil, but it doesn't seem to help that much. The base of the nail seems to be the weakest part of that scheme, and even a metal claw would probably get torn from the finger under any serious pressure causing more problems that it solves.