Strength without agility is a mere mass
Anyone who has ever been out in the rain too long or soaked for hours in a tub knows the prunelike effect it can have on your hands and feet. Conventional wisdom suggests it is nothing more than the skin absorbing water.
But a number of questions have puzzled scientists. Why do “wet wrinkles” appear only on the hands and feet? And why are the most prominent wrinkles at the ends of the digits? Surgeons already know that cutting nerves in a finger prevents the wrinkling, suggesting the process is controlled by the nervous system.
Now a paper in the journal Brain, Behavior and Evolution offers more evidence that wet wrinkles serve a purpose: better grip and traction.
gouache and pencil on paper { Dick Blair }
